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 […] ‎^[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
• cauliflower mushroom
• 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 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)
• 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)

• 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: bljommkǫl 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
• 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.