Skip to main content Skip to Search Box

Definition: cabbage from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide

Vegetable plant related to the turnip and wild mustard, or charlock. It was cultivated as early as 2000 BC, and the many commercial varieties include kale, Brussels sprouts, common cabbage, savoy, cauliflower, sprouting broccoli, and kohlrabi. (Brassica oleracea, family Cruciferae.)

weblinks

Cole Crops or Brassicas

images

cabbage field


cabbage

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
leafy garden vegetable of many widely dissimilar varieties, all probably descended from the wild, or sea, cabbage ( Brassica oleracea ) of the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family), found on the coasts of Europe. It is used for food for man and stock, mostly in Europe and North America. Well-known varieties of the species include the cabbages, broccoli , Brussels sprouts , cauliflower , collards, kale , and kohlrabi . All grow best in cool, moist climates. They are attacked mostly by insect pests. The true cabbages (var. capitata ) include the white and red types and the Savoy type (grown mostly in Europe), with curly, loose leaves. Inexpensive and easily stored, cabbage is important in the diet of many poorer peoples. Popular cabbage dishes include sauerkraut and slaw (raw cabbage). Chinese cabbage, or petsai, chiefly a salad plant, is a separate species ( B. pekinensis ) grown in many varieties, especially in East Asia. Cabbages with multicolored leaves are becoming…
1,821 results

Full text Article cabbage

From Word Origins
The shape of a cabbage, reminiscent of someone's head, led to its being named in Old French caboce , which meant literally ‘head’. English acquired the word via the Old Northern French variant caboche (whose modern French descendant caboche , in the sense ‘head’, is said to provide the basis for…
| 112 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article cabbage

From Library of Health and Living: The Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Good Health
Cabbage Source: Murray Lemmon. U.S. Department of...
A widely cultivated cruciferous vegetable with a compact head and overlapping leaves, related to broccoli and Brussels sprouts . There are hundreds of varieties of cabbage that differ in shape, color, and leaf texture, in either loose or firm heads. Colors range from white and green to purple. In…
| 358 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article cabbage

From The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion
cabbage
The word cabbage is a derivation of the French word caboche , a colloquial term for “head.” The cabbage family—of which Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and kale are all members—is wide and varied. Cabbage itself comes in many forms—the shapes can be flat, conical, or round, the heads…
| 163 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article cabbage

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
leafy garden vegetable of many widely dissimilar varieties, all probably descended from the wild, or sea, cabbage ( Brassica oleracea ) of the family Cruciferae (or Brassicaceae; mustard family), found on the coasts of Europe. It is used for food for man and stock, mostly in Europe and North…
| 179 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article cabbage

From The Oxford Companion to Food
Brassica oleracea , var capitata , the first cultivated vegetable in the diverse genus Brassica , is the ancestor of most of its numerous relations such as cauliflower and brussels sprouts . The original wild plant, known as wild or sea cabbage, still grows in some coastal areas of Europe, is…
| 1,069 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article cabbage

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Head cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata)....
Leafy garden plant ( Brassica oleracea , variety capitata ) of European origin, with a short stem and a globular head of usually green leaves. A member of the mustard family , it is a major table vegetable in most countries of the temperate zone. The term cabbage also refers more generally to a…
| 162 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article Chinese cabbage

From The Oxford Companion to Food
a name with a bewildering number of applications. Confusion is compounded by the fact that many Chinese names for species or varieties are taking their place in the English language, in parallel with the increased cultivation of these plants in western countries; and by the lack of agreement among…
| 796 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article The Future of Cabbage

From Edible: Cabbage: A Global History
Cabbage looper caterpillar, the subject of...
NASA has been investigating how to grow Chinese cabbage on the International Space Station. The canny NASA planners are smart. Cabbage consumption has been increasing steadily since 1961 … in China. Vegetable consumption in the developing world increased from 50 kg (110 lb) per person per year in…
| 1,186 words , 2 images

Full text Article cabbage butterfly

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
One of several butterfly species, the caterpillars of which feed on the leaves of members of the cabbage family, particularly as pests on cabbages. Ichneumon flies parasitize the caterpillars, thereby controlling their numbers. Classification Cabbage butterflies are in genus Pieris in order…
| 246 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Cabbage Soup Diet

From The Gale Encyclopedia of Diets
The cabbage soup diet is a quick weight-loss program intended to be followed for seven days. The centerpiece of the diet is a recipe for cabbage soup, which the dieter may consume in unlimited quantities. In addition to the cabbage soup, there are certain other foods that the dieter must eat on…
| 1,995 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources