cauliflower

English
A budding cauliflower plant.

Etymology

From 16th century cole-florye, equivalent to cole (from Latin caulis) + flower, reformed to more closely match the Latin etymon. Cognate with French chou-fleur, Italian cavolfiore.

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkɒl.i.flaʊ.ə/, /ˈkɒl.ɪ.flaʊ.ə/
  • Audio (Australia)(file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈkɔl.ɪˌflaʊ.ɚ/, /ˈkɑl.ɪˌflaʊ.ɚ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (US cot-caught merged)(file)

Noun

cauliflower (countable and uncountable, plural cauliflowers)

  1. Brassica oleracea var. botrytis, an annual variety of cabbage, of which the cluster of young flower stalks and buds is eaten as a vegetable.
    • 1767, A Lady [Hannah Glasse], The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Eaſy […] ‎, page 326:
      ASPARAGUS, cauliflowers, imperial Sileſia, royal and cabbage lettuces, burnet, purſlain, cucumbers, naſturtian flowers, peaſe and beans ſown in October, artichokes, ſcarlet ſtrawberries, and kidney beans.
  2. The edible head or curd of a cauliflower plant.
  3. The swelling of a cauliflower ear.
    • 2018, John Harding, The Whitechapel Whirlwind: The Jack Kid Berg Story:
      His ears were small (fortunately so, given his dramatic hairstyle) and bore no traditional cauliflowers.

Derived terms

Descendants
  • → Japanese: カリフラワー (karifurawā)

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

cauliflower (third-person singular simple present cauliflowers, present participle cauliflowering, simple past and past participle cauliflowered)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To (cause to) swell up like a cauliflower ear.
    • 1947, Elliott Chaze, The Stainless Steel Kimono, page 49:
      I noticed his right ear was badly cauliflowered and that explained a number of things. It wasn't a new job of cauliflowering.
    • 1960, Transactions of the British Ceramic Society, page 281:
      Returning to your first point, the cauliflowering of magnesite bricks — we presume that this is due to your using high concentrations of oxygen for blowing the furnace, giving high checker-temperatures.
    • 1974, Alexander G. Weygers, The Modern Blacksmith, page 39:
      The soft steel of the back edge by now has cauliflowered over from hammering on it.
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