cavolo

Forms

cavolo m (plural cavoli)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin caulus (“stalk; cabbage”), the Late Latin form of Latin caulis (“stem, stalk; cabbage”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The word probably spread from southern Italy: the southern dialects kept the diphthong /au/, and an inserted /v/ then split it into two syllables, as in the Italian names of Genoa and Mantua.^[2][6][7] Wiktionary suggests a borrowing from Neapolitan cavolo or Sicilian cavulu, and Sabatini–Coletti contrast this popular word with the learned doublet caule (“stem”).^[1][5] The other Romance languages continue the classical form: French chou, Occitan caul, Catalan col, Spanish col and Portuguese couve.^[3][8]

DELI derives the Late Latin form from Ancient Greek καυλός (kaulós, “stem, stalk; cabbage”), while de Vaan treats that Greek word as a cognate of the Latin.^[2][9] Both go back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)keh₂u-l-i- (“stem of a plant”), which also gave Lithuanian káulas (“bone”), Latvian kauls (“stem; bone”) and Old Irish cúal (“bundle of sticks”).^[9][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Decime mugellane, tithe records from the Mugello of the mid-13th century, for the vegetable.^[2][10] Old Italian also had the forms caulo, kàolo and colo, and the phrases non levare un cavolo “to be of no use” and piovere cavoli e insalata, said of something impossible.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The many cultivated varieties gave compound names: cavolo fiore appears before 1597 in Soderini and cavolfiore before 1698 in Redi, while the cabbage white butterfly was named cavolaia (1875) because its larvae eat the leaves.^[2][3] Italian cavolfiori passed into German as Karfiol.^[8] Figurative phrases include entrarci come i cavoli a merenda “to be quite out of place”, salvare capra e cavoli “to have it both ways” and andare a ingrassare i cavoli “to die”.^[11][12][13]

The sense “a trifle, nothing” is recorded in 1847 in Giuseppe Giusti.^[2] In this sense and in phrases such as testa di cavolo or non capire un cavolo, the word is a euphemism for cazzo, chosen for its first syllable, like cacchio;^[2][3][5] cavolata and incavolarsi (1961) replace cazzata and incazzarsi in the same way.^[2][3][5]

Timeline

• Mid-13th century – The Decime mugellane record cavolo.^[2][10]
• Before 1597 – Giovan Vettorio Soderini uses cavolo fiore.^[2]
• Before 1698 – Francesco Redi uses cavolfiore.^[2]
• 1847 – Giusti uses cavolo for “nothing at all”.^[2]
• 1875 – Cavolaia is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1961 – Incavolarsi is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) cabbage, the plant Brassica oleracea, grown in many varieties.^{[4][13][11][1]}
2. The vegetable eaten, cooked or raw: Stasera c'è il cavolo stufato.^[4][13]
3. (colloquial, euphemistic) Nothing at all, in negative sentences: Non ho capito un cavolo.^[4][14][5]
4. (colloquial, in the plural) One's own business: Fatti i cavoli tuoi!^[4][14]
5. (colloquial, euphemistic) Used to strengthen a question or complaint: Ma dove cavolo eri finito?^[4][14][1]

Interjection

1. (colloquial) Expresses surprise, admiration or annoyance: Cavolo, è già mezzanotte!^[4][14][5]

Word family

• cavolfiore
• cavolaia
• cavolata
• incavolarsi
• cavoletto

Related words

• brasca
• verza
• caule
• Latin caulis
• French chou

Usage notes

Col cavolo! means “no way!”, and del cavolo after a noun means “lousy, worthless”.^[14][4] Cavolo riscaldato is something old passed off as new.^[14][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 13, 328
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
13. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
14. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana