Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Cabbage |
CabbageNoun1. Any of various types of cabbage. 2. Informal terms for money. 3. Any of various cultivars of the genus Brassica oleracea grown for their edible leaves or flowers. Verb1. Make off with belongings of others. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "cabbage" was first used: sometime in the mid-15th century. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Satire | CABBAGE, n. A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head. The cabbage is so called from Cabagius, a prince who on ascending the throne issued a decree appointing a High Council of Empire consisting of the members of his predecessor's Ministry and the cabbages in the royal garden. When any of his Majesty's measures of state policy miscarried conspicuously it was gravely announced that several members of the High Council had been beheaded, and his murmuring subjects were appeased. Source: Devil's Dictionary. |
Dream Interpretation | It is bad to dream of cabbage. Disorders may run riot in all forms. To dream of seeing cabbage green, means unfaithfulness in love and infidelity in wedlock. To cut heads of cabbage, denotes that you are tightening the cords of calamity around you by lavish expenditure. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Food & Agriculture | A member of the family of cruciferous vegetables. Red cabbage tastes similar to green. Shredded raw or cooked red cabbage will run and discolor other foods. The color also fades when cooked. Source: European Union. (references) |
Literature | Cabbage It is said that no sort of food causes so much thirst as cabbage, especially that called colewort. Pausanias tells us it first sprang from the sweat of Jupiter, some drops of which fell on the earth. Coelius, Rhodiginus, Ovid, Suidas, and others repeat the same fable. "Some drops of sweat happening to light on the earth produced what mortals call cabbage."- R. ibelais: Pantagruel, book iv. (Prologue). Cabbage (To). To filch. Sometimes a tailor is called "cabbage," from his pilfering cloth given him to make up. Thus in Motteux's Rabelais, iv. 52, we read of "Poor Cabbage's hair." (Old French, cabas, theft, verb cabasser; Dutch, kabassen; Swedish, grabba; Danish, griber, our grab,) "Your tailor, instead of shreds, cabbages whole yards of cloth."- Arbuthnot's John Bull. Cabbage is also a common schoolboy term for a literary crib, or other petty theft. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Slang in 1811 | CABBAGE. Cloth, stuff, or silkpurloined by laylors from their employers, which they deposit in a place called HELL, or their EYE: from the first, when taxed, with their knavery, they equivocally swear, that if they have taken any, they wish they may find. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Cabbage plantsThe cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) is an edible plant of the Family Brassicaceae (or Cruciferae). It is herbaceous, biennial, and a dicotyledonous flowering plant with leaves forming a characteristic compact head. Surprisingly, broccoli (var. italica), cauliflower (var. botrytis), kohlrabi (var. caulorapa) and brussels sprouts (var. gemmifera), Chinese kale or Chinese broccoli (var. alboglabra), broccolini (var. italica x alboglabra) and broccoflower (var. italica x botrytis) are varieties of the same plant species: Brassica oleracea.
The cabbage head was bred into the species from the leafy wild plant, found in the Mediterranean region around 100 CE. The English name derives from the French caboche (head). Varieties include Red cabbage, Savoy cabbage, and Chinese cabbage.
Cabbages are commonly used both cooked and as a salad vegetable. They keep well and were thus a common winter vegetable before refrigeration and long-distance shipping of produce. Sauerkraut is a fermented cabbage often used as a condiment or side dish.
The caterpillars of some butterflies in the family Pieridae (the "whites") feed on brassicas and can be serious pests.
See also: Kerguelen cabbage (Pringlea antiscorbutica)
Food | List of fruits | List of vegetables Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Cabbage."
Synonyms: CabbageSynonyms: bread (n), chou (n), cultivated cabbage (n), dinero (n), dough (n), gelt (n), kale (n), loot (n), lucre (n), moolah (n), pelf (n), shekels (n), abstract (v), filch (v), hook (v), lift (v), nobble (v), pilfer (v), pinch (v), purloin (v), snarf (v), sneak (v), swipe (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Money | Dough, cabbage. |
Stealing | Verb: steal, thieve, rob, mug, purloin, pilfer, filch, prig, bag, nim, crib, cabbage, palm; abstract; appropriate, plagiarize. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Yeah Two heads of cabbage. (Men in Black II; writing credit: Lowell Cunningham; Robert Gordon) Smell like cabbage. Small hands (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery; writing credit: Mike Myers.) A person can't go paralyzed by smelling cabbage. (All in the Family; writing credit: Johnny Speight; Norman Lear) That's Korean cabbage. Smells like an old pair of gym shoes (Northern Exposure; writing credit: Khadijah Hashim) | |
Lyrics | When you were cuddled wit cabbage patch (Forgot About Dre; performing artist: Dr. dre) | |
Clever | Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. (references; author: Mark Twain) Cole's Law: Thinly sliced cabbage. (references; author: unknown) My love is like a cabbage, divided into two. The leaves I give to others, but the heart I give to you. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1942) The Cabbage Queen (1918) Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1914) Cabbage Boy (2000) The Cabbage Patch (1983) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | There is a butcher block cutting board on a white tablecloth. On the table are peapods, purple cabbage, cherry tomatoes, watercress, carrots, cauliflower and radishes. On the cutting board is a red pepper and an orange paring knife. In front of the board is a grey and white plaid napkin. See also AV-3905. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist. |  | From an overhead angle, a textured grey plate full of broccoli and cauliflower is shown on a grey tablecloth decorated with cabbage. Black letterings in the upper right reads: "Choose cruciferous vegetables more often". Shot on 4x5 format. This was used in the 1989 calendar "Eat for Good Health" October 1989. See artwork: PV-19. Credit: Bill Branson (photographer). |
 | A boy plowing a cabbage field. Swepsonville (vicinity), NC. May 1940. . Credit: USDA. |  | Very wide angle of cabbage. Credit: USDA. |
 | Cabbage on truck and in water bath in Florida. Credit: USDA. |  | Harvesting cabbage in Florida. Credit: USDA. |
 | Packing cabbage at open market in Florida. Credit: USDA. |  | Diamondback moth larvae feed on a cabbage leaf. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Doug Wilson.. |
 | Skunk Cabbage. Credit: T. Hogervorst. |  | Yellow Skunk Cabbage (Lysichitum americanum) found at Three Horn Campground along Tiller Highway. Credit: Terry Tuttle. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "New Zealand Cabbage Tree" by Chris Sharp Commentary: "New Zealand Cabbage Tree." | "Stuffed cabbage" by Krzysztof Baranski Commentary: "Stuffed cabbage." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
(Decimus Junius Juvenalis) Juvenal | Like warmed-up cabbage served at each repast, The repetition kills the wretch at last. |
H.l. Mencken | An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it is also more nourishing. |
James Russell Lowell | The question of common sense is ''what is it good for?'' A question which would abolish the rose and be answered triumphantly by the cabbage. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Hiawatha's Photographing | Carroll, Lewis | Gracefully she sat down sideways, With a simper scarcely human, Holding in her hand a bouquet Rather larger than a cabbage. |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | Nash pinioned his arms behind while Boland seized a long cabbage stump which was lying in the gutter |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Smaller amounts are found in cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, asparagus, other vegetables, and whole grains. (references) | |
Other good food sources of calcium include some green vegetables (e.g., broccoli, kale, turnip greens, Chinese cabbage), calcium-set tofu, some legumes, canned fish, seeds, nuts, and certain fortified food products. (references) | ||
Avoid foods that are high in fiber or can cause cramps or a gassy feeling such as raw fruits and vegetables, coffee and other beverages that contain caffeine, beans, cabbage, whole grain breads and cereals, sweets, and spicy foods. (references) | ||
Economic History | Guatemala | The largest seed importer is the vegetable sector, which includes sweet corn, beets, cauliflower, onion, pepper, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, radish, cucumber, lettuce, squash, tomato, and others. (references) |
Azerbaijan | A wide variety of crops are grown in Azerbaijan, such as fruits (apples, cherries, grapes, olives, lemons, persimmons, melons, raspberries, strawberries, currants, plums, peaches, pears, pomegranates and tomatoes), vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, cucumbers, and onions), grains (wheat, maize, barley), tea leaves, and nuts. (references) | |
Trade | Philippines | Examples include feed grains, particularly corn (at an in-quota rate of 35 percent, 65 percent out-of-quota rate since July 1, 1999), sorghum (from 15 percent since January 1, 1999 to 10 percent beginning January 1, 2000) potatoes (in-quota rate of 45 percent, 60 percent out-of-quota rate since July 1, 1999), and fresh and chilled beef (from 20 percent since January 1, 1999 to 10 percent starting January 1, 2000). E.O. 334 maintained 2000 tariffs for 2001 for all agricultural goods, but would cut tariffs for many goods beginning in 2002. For example, the tariff rates (in and out of quota) for corn, cabbage, and coffee would be cut to 30 percent by 2004, while other less-sensitive goods would see their tariffs cut to five percent. (references) |
Travel | Nicaragua | Vigorón: a dish made of yucca with roasted pork, served with a cabbage salad. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | ZENITH, n. The point in the heavens directly overhead to a man standing or a growing cabbage. A man in bed or a cabbage in the pot is not considered as having a zenith, though from this view of the matter there was once a considerably dissent among the learned, some holding that the posture of the body was immaterial. These were called Horizontalists, their opponents, Verticalists. The Horizontalist heresy was finally extinguished by Xanobus, the philosopher-king of Abara, a zealous Verticalist. Entering an assembly of philosophers who were debating the matter, he cast a severed human head at the feet of his opponents and asked them to determine its zenith, explaining that its body was hanging by the heels outside. Observing that it was the head of their leader, the Horizontalists hastened to profess themselves converted to whatever opinion the Crown might be pleased to hold, and Horizontalism took its place among fides defuncti. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Cabbage" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.70% of the time. "Cabbage" is used about 338 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.7% | 337 | 15,616 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 0.3% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 338 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "cabbage": become a cabbage ♦ Cabbage aphis ♦ cabbage bark ♦ Cabbage beetle ♦ cabbage butterfly ♦ Cabbage fly ♦ Cabbage head ♦ cabbage lettuce ♦ Cabbage palm ♦ Cabbage palmetto ♦ cabbage rose ♦ cabbage soup ♦ cabbage stalk ♦ Cabbage tree ♦ cabbage turnip ♦ Cabbage worm ♦ celery cabbage ♦ chinese cabbage ♦ chinese white cabbage ♦ cultivated cabbage ♦ Dog cabbage ♦ Dog's cabbage ♦ harlequin cabbage bug ♦ head cabbage ♦ head cabbage plant ♦ head of cabbage ♦ John's cabbage ♦ palm cabbage ♦ pickled cabbage ♦ red cabbage ♦ savoy cabbage ♦ sea cabbage ♦ SKUNK CABBAGE ♦ southern cabbage butterfly ♦ stuffed cabbage ♦ stuffed cabbage roll ♦ swamp cabbage ♦ turnip cabbage ♦ water cabbage ♦ wild cabbage. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "cabbage": cabbage-bark tree, cabbage-field, cabbage-green, cabbage-head, cabbage-leaves, cabbage-like, cabbage-looking, cabbage-patch, cabbage-white. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "cabbage"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | lakër (coleseed). (various references) | |
Arabic | كرنب ملفوف, ملفوف (coiled, convolute, convoluted, intertwined, rolled together, surrounded, twisted, wound, wrapped up), حلوي. (various references) | |
Breton | kaol. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | зелка (cabbagehead), зеле (borecole, kale, rape), задигам изрезки, изрезки плат присвоени от шивач. (various references) | |
Chamorro | ripoyu. (various references) | |
Chinese | 甘藍菜 , 圆白菜. (various references) | |
Cornish | cawlen. (various references) | |
Czech | zelí, kapusta (kale). (various references) | |
Danish | kål (brassica vegetables). (various references) | |
Dutch | kool (coal). (various references) | |
Esperanto | brasiko. (various references) | |
Faeroese | kál. (various references) | |
Farsi | کلم , کش رفتن (Abstract, Nip, Palm, Pilfer, Prig, Snip, Snitch, Swipe), دله دزدی (Crib). (various references) | |
Finnish | keräkaali, kaali. (various references) | |
French | chou. (various references) | |
Frisian | koal (coal). (various references) | |
German | Kohl (kale, nonsense, rubbish, stew), Kohlkopf (head of cabbage), kraut (foliage, grass, herb, herbage, plant, sauerkraut, tobacco, tops). (various references) | |
Greek | λάχανο (kale). (various references) | |
Hawaiian | lakër. (various references) | |
Hebrew | כרוב. (various references) | |
Hungarian | káposzta. (various references) | |
Icelandic | kál. (various references) | |
Indonesian | kubis. (various references) | |
Irish | cabáiste. (various references) | |
Italian | cavolo (kale). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 玉菜 , キャビネ判 (cabin, cabinet size, camel, camisole, capital gain, capital letter, capital loss, capitalism, captain, CAPTAIN System, caption, capture, caramel, caravan, caraway, carburetor, career, career government employee, career woman, carrier, carry, character, Character and Pattern Telephone Access Information System, character display, character in a manga or anime, light mountain-climbing shoes). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | たまな, キャベツ . (various references) | |
Korean | 양배추 (savoy). (various references) | |
Manx | cabbash. (various references) | |
Maori | kaapeti. (various references) | |
Norwegian | kål. (various references) | |
Papiamen | kolo, kol. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | abbagecay.(various references) | |
Polish | kapusta. (various references) | |
Portuguese | couve (cole, kale), repolho (curly kale, pointed cabbage). (various references) | |
Romanian | cãpãţânã de varzã, varzå, varzã. (various references) | |
Romany | shah. (various references) | |
Russian | капустный, капуста кочанная, капуста капустный, капуста (kale), воровать (mooch, pilfer, prig, purloin, steal, thieve). (various references) | |
Scottish | cabaist, càl (colewort, kail, kale : càl ceirtleach). (various references) | |
Sepedi | kole. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | kupusni, kupus (cole). (various references) | |
Spanish | col (cauliflower, Col, Cole), repollo (cabbagehead, white cabbage). (various references) | |
Sranan | koro. (various references) | |
Swahili | kabichi. (various references) | |
Swedish | kål (Cole, kail, kale). (various references) | |
Tagalog | repolyo. (various references) | |
Thai | ผักจำพวกกะหล่ำปลี. (various references) | |
Turkish | lahana, lâhana. (various references) | |
Turkmen | kellem. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | списувати, шпаргалка (cab, crib, pony), красти (appropriate, borrow, gyp, mooch, nim, plunder, poach, purloin, snip, steal, swipe, thieve), кравець (clothier, sewer, snipper, tailor), користуватися шпаргалкою (cab), капуста, обрізкі тканини, закручуватися качаном, завиватися (crisp), привласнювати (appropriate, arrogate, embezzle, grab, peculate, poach, pocket, pouch, snoop, take, trouser), плагіат (crib, plagiarism, rip off). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | xìn (splosh, sugar), mẩu vải thừa, giấy bạc (bank-note), bài dịch để quay cóp. (various references) | |
Welsh | bresychen. (various references) | |
Zulu | iklabishi, ikhabishi. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | brassica, Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata alba, Brassica spp., caput, caulis, coles, crambe, holera, holeribus, holerum, holus, multicoloria, raphanus. (various references) |
| Old French | 900-1400 | caboce. (various references) |
| Middle French | 1400-1600 | caboche. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "cabbage": cabbaged, cabbages, cabbageworm, cabbageworms. (additional references) | |
| |
"Cabbage" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: cabage, cabbagy, cablage, cabragh, cubbage, Kabiga, Kazbegi. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-b-b-c-e-g" | |
-3 letters: abba, abbe, baba, babe, cage. | |
-4 letters: aba, ace, aga, age, baa, bag, beg, cab, ebb, gab, gae. | |
-5 letters: aa, ab, ae, ag, ba, be. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-b-b-c-e-g" | |
+1 letter: cabbaged, cabbages. | |
+4 letters: cabbageworm. | |
+5 letters: backbreaking, cabbageworms. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Translations: Ancient | 17. Derivations 18. Anagrams 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
