artichoke
/ˈɑɹ.tɪˌtʃoʊk/ noun
Forms artichokes
- noun (countable) A plant related to the thistle with enlarged flower heads eaten as a vegetable while immature, Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus.
- noun A dull green colour, like that of an artichoke.
Synonyms
globe artichoke cardoon Cynara scolymus Cynara cardunculus artichoke plant
Etymology
From Lombard articioch (cf. articiocco), from Occitan artichaut, from Old Spanish alcarchofa, from Andalusian Arabic الْخَرْشُوف (al-ḵaršúf), from Arabic الْخُرْشُوف (al-ḵuršūf), definite form of خُرْشُوف (ḵuršūf).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The Cynara scolymus, a plant somewhat resembling a thistle, with a dilated, imbricated, and prickly involucre. The head (to which the name is also applied) is composed of numerous oval scales, inclosing the florets, sitting on a broad receptacle, which, with the fleshy base of the scales, is much esteemed as an article of food.
- noun See Jerusalem artichoke.
Etymology [It. articioc, perh. corrupted fr. the same word as carciofo; cf. older spellings archiciocco, archicioffo, carciocco, and Sp. alcachofa, Pg. alcachofra; prob. fr. Ar. al- harshaf, al-kharsh.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “artichoke”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details