Etymograph

English

chou

Chou comes from French chou ‘cabbage’, from Latin caulis ‘stalk, stem’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂ulis.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂ulis1‘straight stalk’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaulis2‘stalk, stem’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chous2
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentchou3‘cabbage’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1891chou3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin caulis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French chou
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English chou
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1891, Locomotive Engineers Journal: “Medium sized chous, or rosettes of the ribbon finish…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂ulisWiktionary, Latin caulis‘straight stalk’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaulisWiktionary, French chou‘stalk, stem’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400chousWiktionary, French chou
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentchouWiktionary, English chou‘cabbage’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1891chouWiktionary, English chou. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1891, Locomotive Engineers Journal: “Medium sized chous, or rosettes of the ribbon finish…”

Linked words

through Latin caulis ‘stalk, stem’

cole, kale, gobi, 5 more

Today it means

noun Choux pastry, usually in the form of a small round cake with a sweet filling.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chou”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin caulis, French chou. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *keh₂ulis / chou

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