artichoke
[ahr-ti-chohk]
- a tall, thistlelike composite plant, Cynara scolymus, native to the Mediterranean region, of which the numerous scalelike bracts and receptacle of the immature flower head are eaten as a vegetable.
- the large, rounded, closed flower head itself.
- Jerusalem artichoke.
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Origin of artichoke
1525–35; < Upper Italian articiocco, variant (by dissimilation) of arciciocco, arcicioffo < *arcarcioffo < Old Spanish alcarchofa < dialectal Arabic al-kharshūf the artichoke
Also called globe artichoke (for defs 1, 2).
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for artichoke
Contemporary Examples
Page Six says they dined on mussel soup, crayfish and artichoke risotto at a tony Venetian restaurant.
There, Artichoke interrogation experiments were taking place at a safe house called Haus Waldorf.
The goal of the Artichoke interrogation program, Marks explains, was “modifying behavior through covert means.”
So the next day I went out and I bought a microwave oven and I made an artichoke in the microwave.
Say “hot crab and artichoke dip” in a crowded room and heads will turn.
Historical Examples
Therefore it is clear to my mind that the word was not 'artichoke,' but 'aristocrat,' that he used.
Rico and WiseliJohanna Spyri
The stick remained in the air, and Pussy came back to the house like an 'artichoke.'
Rico and WiseliJohanna Spyri
“I think I should like an artichoke for luncheon,” said she.
The Lady and the PirateEmerson Hough
They quickly cut the artichoke heads and heaped them up in the baskets.
Nobody's GirlHector Malot
Put the water in soup kettle; add the artichoke, onions, and protose.
The Vegetarian Cook BookE. G. Fulton
artichoke
- Also called: globe artichoke a thistle-like Eurasian plant, Cynara scolymus, cultivated for its large edible flower head containing many fleshy scalelike bracts: family Asteraceae (composites)
- the unopened flower head of this plant, which can be cooked and eaten
- See Jerusalem artichoke
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Word Origin
C16: from Italian articiocco, from Old Spanish alcarchofa, from Arabic al-kharshūf
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for artichoke
n.
1530s, from articiocco, Northern Italian variant of Italian arcicioffo, from Old Spanish alcarchofa, from Arabic al-hursufa "artichoke." The Northern Italian variation probably is from influence of ciocco "stump."
Folk etymology has twisted the word in English; the ending is probably influenced by choke, and early forms of the word in English include archecokk, hortichock, artychough, hartichoake. The plant was known in Italy by 1450s, brought to Florence from Naples in 1466, and introduced in England in the reign of Henry VIII. French artichaut (16c.), German Artischocke (16c.) both are also from Italian.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper