coleslaw

Etymology

It is borrowed from Dutch koolsla (“cabbage salad”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a reduced form of koolsalade,^[2][7] from kool (“cabbage”) and sla (“salad”), short for salade, which is from French salade.^[3][4][8] The Dutch word for cabbage comes through Middle Dutch cōle from Latin caulis (“cabbage, stalk”),^[3][4] which also gave cole.^[9][10] The word is American English, presumably taken from settlers from the Netherlands,^[8][4][9] and Etymonline and Ayto call it a partial translation, with cole standing for kool.^[8][9] Its earliest form, “cold slaw”, is a folk etymology;^[2][8][9] it remained the usual spelling until the 1860s, when “cole-” spread by association with the word cole.^[4][8] Merriam-Webster Unabridged takes the opposite view, treating coleslaw as an alteration of “coldslaw” influenced by the Dutch word for cabbage.^[11] Ayto notes that the Dutch sla was also rendered as “-slaugh”, a form now lost.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sliced cabbage dressed with salt, pepper, vinegar and the like, eaten raw or lightly cooked: 1794, in the Massachusetts Spy of 12 November, "A piece of sliced cabbage, by Dutchmen ycleped cold slaw".^[2][8] Dictionary.com dates it 1785–95.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The salad was first dressed with vinegar and seasoning;^[2][8] it is now usually made with mayonnaise, often with carrot and onion added.^[5][7] The short form slaw is recorded in the same 1794 newspaper,^[2] while Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates it to 1861 and explains it as a shortening.^[11] Ayto notes that coldslaw is still heard, now as a folk-etymological alteration of coleslaw.^[9]

Timeline

• 1794 – cold slaw, a salad of sliced cabbage, in the Massachusetts Spy.^[2][8][4]
• 1860s – the spelling with cole- becomes common.^[4][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A salad of finely shredded raw cabbage, often with carrot and onion, dressed with mayonnaise or vinegar: We took a tub of coleslaw to the barbecue.^{[7][11][5][2]}

Related words

• cole
• slaw
• salad
• cauliflower
• colza
• kale

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House