cauliflower
/ˈkɒlɪflaʊə
/noun
1A cabbage of a variety which bears a large immature flower head of small creamy-white flower buds.Among the varieties, there were 15 white cauliflowers, 3 purple cauliflowers, four broccolis, and a collard....
- Cabbages and cauliflowers have to go from Jubilee Allotment gardens, Kendal, so the Cumbria Education Department can raise a crop of healthy children.
- Varieties of kale will cross-pollinate, as well as with cabbages and cauliflowers.
1.1 [mass noun] The flower head of the cauliflower eaten as a vegetable.Shred the vegetables and put cauliflower, beans and carrots in a pot of water, add some salt, take them out after boiling....
- It is said to counteract flatulence and is often used in the cooking of pulses and other ‘windy’ vegetables such as cauliflower.
- It came with seasonal vegetables including cauliflower, carrots, new potatoes and sliced courgettes.
Origin
Late 16th century: from obsolete French chou fleuri 'flowered cabbage', probably from Italian cavolfiore or modern Latin cauliflora. The original English form colieflorie or cole-flory had its first element influenced by cole; the second element was influenced by flower during the 17th century.
Cauliflower is a modified form of the Italian cavoli fiori, literally ‘cabbage flowers’—cavoli comes from Latin caulis ‘cabbage’, the source also of kale (Middle English). The original 16th-century English forms colieflorie and cole-flory had their first element influenced by the cole (Old English) ‘cabbage’, and only later was the spelling changed to match the original Latin root.