Cabbage - Taxonomy and Etymology

Taxonomy and Etymology

Cabbage (Brassica oleracea or B. oleracea var. capitata, var. tuba, and var. sabauda) is a member of the Brassica genus and the Brassicaceae (mustard) family. Several other cole crops are considered varieties of B. oleracea, including broccoli, collard greens, brussels sprouts, kohlrabi and sprouting broccoli. All of these developed from the wild cabbage B. oleracea var. oleracea, also called colewart or field cabbage. This original subspecies evolved over thousands of years into those seen today, as selection resulted in varieties having different characteristics, such as large heads for cabbage, large leaves for kale and thick stems with flower buds for broccoli. B. oleracea var. acephala is another trinomial synonym for cabbage. B. oleracea and its derivatives have hundreds of common names throughout the world.

The original family name of brassicas was Cruciferae, which derived from the flower petal pattern thought by medieval Europeans to resemble a crucifix. The word brassica derives from bresic, a Celtic word for cabbage. The late Middle English word cabbage derives from the word caboche, meaning "head", from the Picard dialect of Old French. This in turn is a variant of the Old French caboce. "Cabbage" was originally used to refer to multiple B. oleracea varieties, including those with loose or non-existent heads. Through the centuries, "cabbage" and its derivatives have been used as slang for numerous items, occupations and activities. Cash and tobacco have both been described by the slang "cabbage", while "cabbage-head" means a fool or stupid person and "cabbaged" means to be exhausted or, vulgarly, in a vegetative state. Several slang meanings of cabbage relate to tailoring, with "cabbage contractor" having the 19th century meaning of a tailor, while at the same time small scraps of material sold by tailors were called "cabbage". "Cabbagetown" is slang in Canadian English for an urban area in run-down condition, and derives from Cabbagetown, Toronto, where the residents were said to eat nothing but cabbage. "Cabbage" is also a part of common names for several unrelated species. These include cabbage bark or cabbage tree (a member of the Andira genus) and cabbage palm, which includes several genera of palm such as Mauritia, Roystonea oleracea, Acrocomia and Euterpe oenocarpus.

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