artichoke

[ahr-ti-chohk]

noun

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.

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for artichoke

Contemporary Examples of artichoke

Page Six says they dined on mussel soup, crayfish and artichoke risotto at a tony Venetian restaurant.
Venice Wedding Bells for George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin?
Barbie Latza Nadeau
June 10, 2014
There, Artichoke interrogation experiments were taking place at a safe house called Haus Waldorf.
What Cold War CIA Interrogators Learned from the Nazis
Annie Jacobsen
February 11, 2014
The goal of the Artichoke interrogation program, Marks explains, was “modifying behavior through covert means.”
What Cold War CIA Interrogators Learned from the Nazis
Annie Jacobsen
February 11, 2014
So the next day I went out and I bought a microwave oven and I made an artichoke in the microwave.
The Queen of the Cookbook
Sarah Whitman-Salkin
February 23, 2010
Say “hot crab and artichoke dip” in a crowded room and heads will turn.
What to Eat: Classic Hors d'Oeuvres, Revisited
Cookstr.com
November 3, 2009

Historical Examples of artichoke

The stick remained in the air, and Pussy came back to the house like an 'artichoke.'
Rico and Wiseli
Johanna Spyri
Therefore it is clear to my mind that the word was not 'artichoke,' but 'aristocrat,' that he used.
Rico and Wiseli
Johanna Spyri
“I think I should like an artichoke for luncheon,” said she.
The Lady and the Pirate
Emerson Hough
They quickly cut the artichoke heads and heaped them up in the baskets.
Nobody's Girl
Hector Malot
Put the water in soup kettle; add the artichoke, onions, and protose.
The Vegetarian Cook Book
E. G. Fulton

British Dictionary definitions for artichoke

artichoke

noun

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

Word Origin for artichoke

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for artichoke

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.