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 (General Australian):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔl.ɪˌflaʊ.ɚ/, /ˈkɑl.ɪˌflaʊ.ɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (US, cot–caught merger):

  (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 […] ‎^[1], 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

• broccoflower
• cauli
• cauliflower cheese
• cauliflower ear
• cauliflowered
• cauliflowerlike
• cauliflower mushroom
• cauliflowery
• caulini
• sea cauliflower

 

Descendants

• → Japanese: カリフラワー (karifurawā)

Translations

vegetable

• Afrikaans: blomkool
• Albanian: lulelakër (sq)
• Arabic: قَرْنَبِيط m (qarnabīṭ), قُنَّبِيط m (qunnabīṭ)

  Egyptian Arabic: قرنبيط m pl (ʔarnabīṭ)

  Hijazi Arabic: قرنبيط m pl (garnabīṭ)

• Aragonese: pella f
• Armenian: ծաղկակաղամբ (hy) (caġkakaġamb)
• Atong (India): phulkobi
• Basque: azalore
• Belarusian: цвятна́я капу́ста f (cvjatnája kapústa)
• Bulgarian: карнаби́т (bg) m (karnabít), карфио́л (bg) m (karfiól)
• Burmese: ဂေါ်ဖီပန်း (my) (gauhpipan:), ပန်းမုန်လာ (my) (pan:munla), ပန်းဂေါ်ဖီ (my) (pan:gauhpi)
• Catalan: coliflor (ca) f, bròquil blanc m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 椰菜花 (je⁴ coi³ faa¹)

  Mandarin: 花椰菜 (zh) (huāyēcài), 菜花 (zh) (càihuā), 花菜 (zh) (huācài)

• Czech: květák (cs) m, karfiól m
• Danish: blomkål (da)
• Dutch: bloemkool (nl) f
• Esperanto: florbrasiko (eo)
• Estonian: lillkapsas
• Faroese: blómkál n
• Finnish: kukkakaali (fi)
• French: chou-fleur (fr) m
• Friulian: cauliflôr m
• Galician: coliflor (gl) f
• Georgian: კალნაბი (ḳalnabi), ყვავილოვანი კომბოსტო (q̇vavilovani ḳombosṭo)
• German: Blumenkohl (de) m, (Austria) Karfiol (de) m
• Greek: κουνουπίδι (el) n (kounoupídi)

  Ancient: κάνωπον n (kánōpon)

• Greenlandic: blomkåli
• Hebrew: כְּרוּבִית (he) f (kruvít)
• Hindi: गोभी (hi) f (gobhī), गोबी (hi) f (gobī), फूल गोभी (hi) f (phūl gobhī), कोबी (hi) f (kobī) (obsolete)
• Hungarian: karfiol (hu), kelvirág (hu)
• Icelandic: blómkál (is) n
• Ido: florkaulo (io)
• Indonesian: blumkol, kubis bunga (id), kembang kol (id)
• Ingrian: kukkakapusta
• Irish: cóilis f
• Italian: cavolfiore (it) m
• Japanese: カリフラワー (ja) (karifurawā), 花野菜 (hanayasai), 花甘藍 (hanakanran), 花キャベツ (hanakyabetsu)
• Korean: 꽃양배추 (kkochyangbaechu)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: گوڵەکەلەم (gullekelem)

  Northern Kurdish: gulkelem (ku)

• Ladino: kanaveta
• Latin: brassica oleracea var. botrytis, brassica oleracea
• Latvian: ziedkāposts m
• Lithuanian: žiedinis kopūstas m, žiedbastučiai m pl
• Macedonian: карфио́л m (karfiól)
• Malay: kubis bunga
• Maltese: pastard m
• Maori: kareparāoa, pūputi
• Mongolian: цэцэгт байцаа (cecegt bajcaa)
• Navajo: chʼil łigaii, sęęschʼil
• Nepali: गोभी (ne) (gobhī), कोपी२ (ne) (kopī2), काउली१ (ne) (kāulī1)
• Norman: chou-flieur m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: blomkål m

  Nynorsk: blomkål m

• Pashto: گوبي (ps)
• Persian: کلم گل (kalam-e gol), گل کلم (gol-e kalam)
• Polish: kalafior (pl) m
• Portuguese: couve-flor (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਫੁੱਲ ਗੋਭੀ f (phulla gobhī)
• Romanian: conopidă (ro) f
• Romansch: cardifiol m
• Russian: цветна́я капу́ста (ru) f (cvetnája kapústa)
• Serbo-Croatian: karfiol (sh) m, cvjetača (sh) f, cvetača f, цвeтача f
• Silesian: blumkola f
• Slovak: karfiol m
• Slovene: cvetača (sl) f
• Sotho: kholifolawa
• Spanish: coliflor (es) f
• Swahili: koliflawa
• Swedish: blomkål (sv) c
• Tagalog: koliplor
• Tajik: гулкарам (gulkaram)
• Thai: กะหล่ำดอก, กะหล่ำต้น
• Turkish: karnabahar (tr)
• Ukrainian: кучеря́ва капу́ста f (kučerjáva kapústa), цвітна́ капу́ста f (cvitná kapústa)
• Urdu: گوبی (gobī), گوبھی (gobhī)
• Vietnamese: bông cải trắng, cải bông trắng, cải hoa, hoa lơ, hoa lơ trắng, su lơ, súp lơ
• Volapük: florabrasid (vo)
• Welsh: colifflŵar m, bresychen wen (cy) f, blodfresychen (cy) f
• Wolof: sufëlëer, sufólóor

edible head of a cauliflower plant

• Afrikaans: blomkool
• Albanian: lulelakër (sq) f
• Arabic: قَرْنَبِيط m (qarnabīṭ), قُنَّبِيط m (qunnabīṭ)

  Egyptian Arabic: قرنبيطة f (ʔarnabiṭa), قرنبيط m pl (ʔarnabiiṭ)

• Basque: azalore
• Belarusian: цвятна́я капу́ста f (cvjatnája kapústa)
• Catalan: coliflor (ca) f
• Czech: květák (cs) m, karfiól m
• Danish: blomkål (da) c
• Dutch: bloemkool (nl) f
• Elfdalian: bljommką̊l m
• Estonian: lillkapsas
• Faroese: blómkál n
• Finnish: kukkakaali (fi)
• French: chou-fleur (fr) m
• Friulian: cauliflôr m
• Galician: coliflor (gl) f
• German: Blumenkohl (de) m, Karfiol (de) m
• Greek: κουνουπίδι (el) n (kounoupídi)
• Greenlandic: blomkåli
• Hindi: गोभी (hi) f (gobhī), गोबी (hi) f (gobī), फूल गोभी (hi) f (phūl gobhī), कोबी (hi) f (kobī) (obsolete)
• Hungarian: karfiol (hu)
• Icelandic: blómkál (is) n
• Indonesian: kubis bunga (id)
• Irish: cóilis f
• Italian: cavolfiore (it) m
• Ladino: kanaveta
• Latvian: ziedkāposts m, puķkāposts m
• Lithuanian: žiedinis kopūstas m
• Luxembourgish: Choufleur (lb) m
• Maltese: pastard
• Maori: puaniko, kareparāoa
• Navajo: chʼil łigaii
• Nepali: गोभी (ne) (gobhī), कोपी२ (ne) (kopī2), काउली१ (ne) (kāulī1)
• Northern Sami: diehppegálla
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: blomkål m

  Nynorsk: blomkål m

• Pashto: گوبي (ps)
• Plautdietsch: Bloomenkomst m
• Polish: kalafior (pl) m
• Portuguese: couve-flor (pt) f
• Romanian: conopidă (ro) f
• Romansch: cardifiol m
• Russian: цветна́я капу́ста (ru) f (cvetnája kapústa)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: карфиол m

• Silesian: blumkola f
• Slovak: karfiol m
• Slovene: cvetača (sl) f
• Sorbian:

  Upper Sorbian: kwětlik m

• Spanish: coliflor (es) f
• Swahili: mkoliflawa
• Swedish: blomkål (sv) c
• Tagalog: koliplor
• Tajik: гулкарам (gulkaram)
• Turkish: karnabahar (tr)
• Ukrainian: кучеря́ва капу́ста f (kučerjáva kapústa), цвітна́ капу́ста f (cvitná kapústa)
• Urdu: گوبی (gobī), گوبھی (gobhī)
• Welsh: blodfresychen (cy) f

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

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} lulelakër (sq)
• Cornish: ^{(please verify)} cawlvlejen
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} florbrasiko (eo)
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} כרובית (he) f (kruvít)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} bungkul (id); kubis bunga
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} brassica (la) f
• Neapolitan: ^{(please verify)} cavelesciore
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} blomkål
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} گل کلم (gol-e kalam)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} карфиол m

  Roman: ^{(please verify)} karfiol (sh) m

• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} cvetača (sl) f
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} pella (es) f (Northern Spain, specifically Navarra, Spanish Basque Country, Aragon, and La Rioja)
• Thai: ^{(please verify)} ดอกกะหล่ำ (dòk gà-làm)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} karnabahar (tr)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} hoa lơ, ^{(please verify)} hoa lơ trắng, ^{(please verify)} bông cải trắng
• West Frisian: ^{(please verify)} blomkoal (fy)
• Zulu: ^{(please verify)} ukholifulawa (zu)

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.