any of several cultivated varieties of a plant, Brassica oleracea capitata, of the mustard family, having a short stem and leaves formed into a compact, edible head.
2.
the head or leaves of this plant, eaten cooked or raw.
3.
Slang. money, esp. paper money.
4.
Chiefly BritishInformal.
a.
a stupid, dull, or spiritless person.
b.
a mentally impaired person who is unable to live independently; vegetable.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME caboche, caboge, cabage head of cabbage < dial. OF (Picardy, Normandy) lit., head, noggin, equiv. to ca- formative in expressive words, of uncert. orig. + boche; see boss2, botch2]
Any of several forms of a European vegetable (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) of the mustard family, having a globose head consisting of a short stem and tightly overlapping green to purplish leaves.
Any of several similar or related plants, such as Chinese cabbage.
The terminal bud of several species of palm, eaten as a vegetable.
Slang Money, especially in the form of bills.
Informal Sweetheart; dear. Used as a term of endearment.
[Middle English caboche, from Old North French, head, possibly from alteration of Latin caput; see capital1.]
c.1440, from M.Fr. caboche "head" (in the Channel Islands, "cabbage"), from O.Fr. caboce "head," from L. caput "head" (see head). Introduced to Canada 1541 by Jacques Cartier on his third voyage. First written record of it in U.S. is 1669. The decline of "ch" to "j" in the unaccented final syllable parallels the common pronunciation of spinach, sandwich, Greenwich, etc.
Cab"bage\ (k[a^]b"b[asl]j), n. [OE. cabage, fr. F. cabus headed (of cabbages), chou cabus headed cabbage, cabbage head; cf. It. capuccio a little head, cappuccio cowl, hood, cabbage, fr. capo head, L. caput, or fr. It. cappa cape. See Chief, Cape.] (Bot.) 1. An esculent vegetable of many varieties, derived from the wild Brassica oleracea of Europe. The common cabbage has a compact head of leaves. The cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, etc., are sometimes classed as cabbages. 2. The terminal bud of certain palm trees, used, like, cabbage, for food. See Cabbage tree, below. 3. The cabbage palmetto. See below. Cabbage aphis (Zo["o]l.), a green plant-louse (Aphis brassic[ae]) which lives upon the leaves of the cabbage. Cabbage beetle (Zo["o]l.), a small, striped flea-beetle (Phyllotreta vittata) which lives, in the larval state, on the roots, and when adult, on the leaves, of cabbage and other cruciferous plants. Cabbage butterfly (Zo["o]l.), a white butterfly (Pieris rap[ae] of both Europe and America, and the allied P. oleracea, a native American species) which, in the larval state, devours the leaves of the cabbage and the turnip. See Cabbage worm, below. Cabbage fly (Zo["o]l.), a small two-winged fly (Anthomyia brassic[ae]), which feeds, in the larval or maggot state, on the roots of the cabbage, often doing much damage to the crop. Cabbage head, the compact head formed by the leaves of a cabbage; -- contemptuously or humorously, and colloquially, a very stupid and silly person; a numskull. Cabbage palmetto, a species of palm tree (Sabal Palmetto) found along the coast from North Carolina to Florida. Cabbage rose (Bot.), a species of rose (Rosa centifolia) having large and heavy blossoms. Cabbage tree, Cabbage palm, a name given to palms having a terminal bud called a cabbage, as the Sabal Palmetto of the United States, and the Euterpe oleracea and Oreodoxa oleracea of the West Indies. Cabbage worm (Zo["o]l.), the larva of several species of moths and butterflies, which attacks cabbages. The most common is usually the larva of a white butterfly. See Cabbage butterfly, above. The cabbage cutworms, which eat off the stalks of young plants during the night, are the larv[ae] of several species of moths, of the genus Agrotis. See Cutworm. Sea cabbage.(Bot.) (a) Sea kale (b) . The original Plant (Brassica oleracea), from which the cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, etc., have been derived by cultivation. Thousand-headed cabbage. See Brussels sprouts.
Cab"bage\, v. i. [imp. & p. p Cabbaged (-b[asl]jd); p. pr. & vb. n. Cabbaging (-b[asl]*j[i^]ng).] [F. cabasser, fr. OF. cabas theft; cf. F. cabas basket, and OF. cabuser to cheat.] To purloin or embezzle, as the pieces of cloth remaining after cutting out a garment; to pilfer. Your tailor . . . cabbages whole yards of cloth. --Arbuthnot.
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