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.