cauliflower

[ kaw-luh-flou-er, -lee-, kol-uh-, kol-ee- ]

/ ˈkɔ ləˌflaʊ ər, -li-, ˈkɒl ə-, ˈkɒl i- /

noun

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.

Nearby words

Origin of cauliflower

1590–1600; < Latin cauli(s) cole + flower; replacing coleflorie < Italian ca(v)olfiore, equivalent to cavol cole + fiore < Latin flōri- (stem of flōs) flower

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cauliflower

Cauliflower is delicious, potatoes can be good, and I've been thinking about experimenting with bok choy stems.
Your Friday Gadget Chef Recipe: Two Day Soup|Megan McArdle|November 9, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Dip the cauliflower florets in the eggs and then fry them in a preheated pan.
An Israeli Independence Day Menu|Naama Shefi|May 10, 2011|DAILY BEAST
This reviewer stuck dutifully to "Spring" and tried out the recipe for cauliflower gratin, with aged raw milk cheese.
Eat It Now!|Katrina Heron|April 12, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Dip each branch of the cauliflower into the mixture, and fry them in hot fat.
The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887)|Mrs. F.L. Gillette

Dip your quarters of cauliflower into this mixture, and fry them of a fine light brown.
Domestic French Cookery, 4th ed.|Sulpice Baru
"Can that," put in the keeper, a huge creature with a cauliflower face, dingy and gnarled.
The Paliser case|Edgar Saltus
A comparatively small portion of the United States is well adapted to the growth of cauliflower.
The Cauliflower|A. A. Crozier
Almost any soil will do for the cauliflower, providing it is moist and fertile.
The Cauliflower|A. A. Crozier

British Dictionary definitions for cauliflower

cauliflower

/ (ˈkɒlɪˌflaʊə) /

noun

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

Word Origin for cauliflower

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

Word Origin and History for cauliflower

cauliflower

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.