cauliflower
[kaw-luh-flou-er, -lee-, kol-uh-, kol-ee-]
- a form of cultivated plant, Brassica oleracea botrytis, of the mustard family, whose inflorescence forms a compact, usually whitish head.Compare broccoli.
- this head, used as a vegetable.
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Origin of cauliflower
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cauliflower
Contemporary Examples
Cauliflower is delicious, potatoes can be good, and I've been thinking about experimenting with bok choy stems.
Dip the cauliflower florets in the eggs and then fry them in a preheated pan.
This reviewer stuck dutifully to "Spring" and tried out the recipe for cauliflower gratin, with aged raw milk cheese.
Historical Examples
If this is done, the cauliflower will darken and break into pieces.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 5Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
Cut the cauliflower in four, and lay it for an hour in a pan of cold water.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
Pour it over the cauliflower, and secure the jars closely from the air.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
Boil some carrots, cauliflower, spinach, and celery (all cut up) in water.
The Cook's Decameron: A Study in Taste:Mrs. W. G. Waters
Encircle this ragout with the fried cutlets, and crown with a cauliflower.
Culture and CookingCatherine Owen
cauliflower
- a variety of cabbage, Brassica oleracea botrytis, having a large edible head of crowded white flowers on a very short thick stem
- the flower head of this plant, used as a vegetable
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Word Origin
C16: from Italian caoli fiori, literally: cabbage flowers, from cavolo cabbage (from Latin caulis) + fiore flower (from Latin flōs)
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 cauliflower
n.
1590s, originally cole florye, from Italian cavoli fiori "flowered cabbage," plural of cavolo "cabbage" + fiore "flower" (from Latin flora; see flora).
First element is from Latin caulis "cabbage" (originally "stem, stalk") which was borrowed into Germanic and is the source of cole in cole-slaw and of Scottish kale. The front end of the word was re-Latinized from 18c.; the back end was influenced by flower (n.). The boxer's cauliflower ear is from 1907.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper