colewortn.
/ˈkəʊlwəːt/ archaic.† 4. In the proverbial phrase coleworts twice sodden, applied to a statement, argument, etc. that has been presented before; ‘stale news’. Obsolete.So modern dialect ‘I don't boil my cabbages twice.’ Cf. also Scottish ‘cauld kale het again.’
1.
a. Originally, a general name for any plant of the cabbage kind, genus Brassica (of which the varieties were formerly less distinct than now).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > cabbage or kale > [noun]
colec1000
kalea1340
colewortc1380
brassikc1420
brassica1832
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Cruciferae (crucifers) > [noun] > brassica plants
wortc1325
colewortc1380
Arabian mustard1640
Indian mustard1731
aethionema1812
brassica1832
popweed1887
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > cabbage or kale
kalea1340
colewortc1380
c1380 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. I. 100 Growynge of cool~wortis and oþer wedis.
a1492 W. Caxton tr. Vitas Patrum (1495) i. cxxv. f. cxliii/1 Wyth the leues of the coole wortes that men cast out of my kechin.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iv. vi. 551 There be divers sortes of Colewurtes, not muche lyke one another.
1591 E. Spenser Muiopotmos in Complaints sig. V2 Fat Colworts, and comforting Perseline.
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §518 We see that Water-mint turneth into field-mint and the Colewort into Rape by neglect.
1661 S. Pepys Diary 10 Mar. (1970) II. 52 A poor Lenten dinner of Coleworts and bacon.
1830 W. Scott Lett. Demonol. & Witchcraft vii. 216 Their food was..broth made of coleworts and bacon.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Guinevere in Idylls of King 227 As the gardener's hand Picks from the colewort a green caterpillar.
b. cabbage-colewort n. a colewort that hearts or forms a cabbage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > cabbage or kale > [noun] > cabbage
caulc1000
cabbage1391
cabbage cole1577
cabbage-colewort1600
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > cabbage or kale > cabbage
caulc1000
wortc1325
cabbage1391
cabbage cole1577
cabbage-colewort1600
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique ii. xl. 214 Cabage colewoort, which are called white or apple colewoorts.
2.
a. In later times, applied especially to those varieties that do not heart, e.g. kale or greens, or to cabbage-plants before they heart.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > cabbage or kale > [noun] > without heart
colewort1683
borecole1712
collard1755
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > cabbage or kale > without heart
colewort1683
borecole1712
collard1755
1683 T. Tryon Way to Health 209 Of Colworts, Cabbage and Colly-flowers. Colworts are the best of the three.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 281 Cabbages and coleworts are of this class.
1832 E. Lankester Veg. Substances Food 259 There the cabbage and..colewort are in equal favour.
1855 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Kitchen Garden 56 Coleworts (or cabbage-plants half-grown, before they have formed their hearts).
b. sea colewort: Sea-kale, Crambe maritima.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > cabbage or kale > [noun] > sea-kale
sea-kale1699
sea colewort1725
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique Sea Colewort, a Plant that differs from other Coles.
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xxiii. 328 Sea-Colewort has a globose silique.
3. Applied to the edible terminal bud of a palm-tree; = cabbage n.1 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > vegetables > leaf vegetables > [noun] > palm-cabbage
cabbage1638
palm cabbage1705
colewort1796
palm heart1938
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular vegetables > [noun] > leaf vegetables > palm-cabbage
cabbage1638
palm cabbage1705
colewort1796
palm heart1938
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) III. 91 The colewort which is inclosed in the leaves that grow on the top of this tree is very good to eat.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [noun] > story or news which is dull through repetition
coleworts twice sodden1577
sanctus1594
crambe1611
staleness1617
cramboc1670
cold treat1709
chestnut1880
1577 W. Fulke Answer True Christian 84 in Two Treat. against Papistes These colewortes haue bene sodden twise or thryse already.
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 87v Which I must omit, least I set before you Cole-wortes twice sodden.
1610 Bp. J. Hall Common Apol. against Brownists 98 You want variety, when you send in these twise-sodde Coleworts.
1644 J. Bulwer Chirologia 136 It being better sometimes to use a licentious and unwarrantable motion, then alwayes to obtrude the same Coleworts.
Compounds
attributive, as cole-wort worm n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Lepidoptera or butterflies and moths > [noun] > larva > that eats or destroys plants
leaf wormOE
wortworma1382
cole-worm1468
cole-wort worm1552
devil's gold ring1552
canker-blossom1600
peach-worm1814
knife-worm1860
hop-dog1872
nettle grub1890
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum at Canker worme Some do call them the deuyls goldrynge, & some the colewort worme.
1880 Boy's Own Bk. (new ed.) 265 Cabbage-worm..colewort-worm, or grub.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.c1380