Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A vegetable (Brassica oleracea var. italica) in the mustard family, closely related to the cauliflower and having dense clusters of numerous green flower buds.
- n. The flower clusters of this plant, eaten as a vegetable before the flower buds open.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One of the many varieties of the common cabbage (Brassica oleracea), in which the young inflorescence is contracted into a depressed fleshy edible head. It is closely similar to the cauliflower.
Wiktionary
- n. A plant, Brassica oleracea var. italica, of the cabbage family, Brassicaceae; especially, the tree-shaped flower and stalk that are eaten as a vegetable.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Bot.) A plant of the Cabbage species (Brassica oleracea) of many varieties, resembling the cauliflower. The “curd,” or flowering head, is the part used for food.
WordNet 3.0
- n. plant with dense clusters of tight green flower buds
- n. branched green undeveloped flower heads
Etymologies
- 1699, Italian broccoli, plural of broccolo, diminutive of brocco ("shoot, sprout"), from whence also brocade. (Wiktionary)
- Italian, pl. of broccolo, flowering sprout of a turnip, diminutive of brocco, shoot, sprout, from Vulgar Latin *brocca, spike; see brocade. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The word broccoli comes from the Latin broccolo, diminunitive of the term for a sprout.”
WN.com - Articles related to Traders defy FDB ban on turkey tail
“The mushrooms are canned, and the broccoli is also frozen.”
“The broccoli is nearly there, and the collards need to be eaten before they become leather.”
i'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade
“A four-inch lizard found in some broccoli from a supermarket has now become a family pet.”
“Mix together chili and broccoli and microwave 5 minutes until broccoli is tender.”
“How many of us haven't yet figured out that broccoli is generally a better choice than a Big Mac?”
The Huffington Post: The Inner Weigh: 7 Subconscious Slimming Strategies
“I love the looks of this tofu and think your substitution of rice & broccoli is a good one.”
Tried & Tasted: Monsoon Spice's Sweet Chili Lime Glazed Tofu Served With Broccoli and Thai Red Rice
“Stir in broccoli and season with salt and pepper to taste.”
“Drain broccoli and toss it in the pan along with garlic.”
“While broccoli is steaming, finely chop garlic and melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘broccoli’.
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cc
impeccable, accouterment, accoutrement, cc, access, baccivorous, desiccant, floccular, successor, occidental, laccolithic, laccolith and 143 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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The Request Line
This is the place to add words you'd like Charles Harrington Elster to pronounce for you!
swingeing, affiant, dahlia, hydrangea, re, clematis, Nabokov, casu marzu, schadenfreudgeon, nefarious, mewl, manteion and 170 more...
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emetic
Things that make you puke
lobelia, ipecac, copper sulphate, alum, mustard, apomorphine, pukeweed, green beer, happy endings, broccoli, politics, a hair caught in ... and 10 more...
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Gas-Inducing Foodstuffs
Foods that produce flatulence. List title a shameless filching of a fortuitous phrase yarb introduced in his definition of scotch egg. I know everyone has a few foods they avoid at certain times ...
scotch egg, cabbage, chili beans, garbanzo beans, chickpeas, hummus, pickled eggs, rutabaga, radish, jerusalem artichoke, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and 42 more...
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Cruciferous Vegetables
The GNU Webster's 1913 tells us that the second meaning for cruciferous is as follows: "Of, pertaining to, or resembling, a family of plants which have four petals arranged like the arms of a cross...
broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, rutabaga, mustard, radish, turnip, arugula, watercress, horseradish and 29 more...
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elizacole's Words
isomorphic, endemic, tmesis, fillip, antedate, avoirdupois, jeremiad, hypnagogic, antediluvian, fuck, reification, raconteur and 251 more...
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mandarine's Words
antepenultimate, metonymy, synecdoche, pop, kern, inherit, clique, scrumptious, macerate, murmur, kerning, veranda and 1068 more...
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food
food, chef, spice, salt, sugar, pumpkin, apples, fruit, vegetable, savory, soup, sauce and 280 more...
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encyclopedia gustatorica
béchamel, tart, pie, cupcake, roux, jambalaya, étouffé, succulent, plum, pomegranate, peach, apple and 300 more...
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Spelling Bee
Spelling Bee
supersede, broccoli, accessible, execrable, zucchini, zoetrope, lagniappe, tungsten, labyrinth, shaganappi, shillyshallyer, zugzwang and 17 more...
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Dxpert's Words
typically, analysis, theorem, definitely, label, absolutely, bored, awkward, unfortunately, drastically, appointment, stopped and 36 more...
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Things that make me happy
mollusque's exact..., hernesheir's vari..., fields full of da..., broccoli, African violets, postcards, long s, minnows, clouds, you, crocus bulbs, yawning cats and 41 more...
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veggies
rutabaga, collards, broccoli, carrot, turnip, potato, tomato, kale, cabbage, bok choy, komatsuna, amaranth and 25 more...
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Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening: ...
being things I remember from my mother's gardens, including flower, vegetable and shrubbery.
poppy, foxglove, snapdragon, iris, marigold, lily, clematis, rose, peony, nasturtium, petunia, phlox and 58 more...
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Groceries
I list everything else. Why the hell not?
artichoke hearts, ceci beans, ramen, zucchini, green beans, broccoli, carrots, onions, canned tomatoes (..., tomato paste, dark red kidney b..., black beans and 78 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for broccoli.

ruzuzu "2 days ago yarb said
If Pynchon carks it tomorrow then I guess I am."
*checks various news outlets*
I haven't seen anything.... Oct 28, 2010
yarb If Pynchon carks it tomorrow then I guess I am. Oct 26, 2010
ruzuzu The octopus? Yarb, are you psychic? Oct 26, 2010
yarb It would be sort of a cross between "The Octopus" and "Vineland". Oct 25, 2010
fbharjo And the title should be something like "From Cabbage Fleurs to Sandchips." Oct 25, 2010
yarb I feel like someone should write a tragicomic novel about the incipient Californian broccoli industry. Oct 25, 2010
fbharjo Broccoli was first grown in the United States in Santa Clara, California. Before there was the Silicon Valley there was the Broccolian Valley. Oct 25, 2010
ruzuzu "The vegetable, of course, has been around for thousands of years, but in the United States it's been farmed commercially only since the 1920s, and the first advertising campaign on its behalf didn't occur until 1929—and even then, the ads were in Italian."
--from "Drumstick Lipstick, explained!" (about Cole Porter's song "You're the Top") Oct 25, 2010
skipvia That would be aitch dubya. In 1990, dubya was probably too wasted to give a statement that coherent. Although, I guess he never reached that level even when he sobered up. Jul 25, 2009
yarb Dubya? Or aitch dubya? Great quote though. Jul 25, 2009
PossibleUnderscore "I do not like broccoli and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m President of the United States and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli. Now look, this is the last statement I’m going to have on broccoli. There are truckloads of broccoli at this very minute descending on Washington. My family is divided. For the broccoli vote out there: Barbara loves broccoli. She has tried to make me eat it. She eats it all the time herself. So she can go out and meet the caravan of broccoli that’s coming in."
-March 1990 News Conference, George W. Bush Jul 25, 2009
qroqqa Related etymologically to 'broach' (q.v. for more detail), 'brooch', and 'broker'. Mar 6, 2009
reesetee Just teasing, bilby. I do like finocchio, though. And uva. Plural or singular. :-) Apr 18, 2008
Prolagus I'm thinking of uva (grapes), that is a singulare tantum. W H Y ‽ Apr 18, 2008
bilby I think Pro is alluding to finocchio.
There may be other vegetable brethren in the infirmary. Apr 18, 2008
reesetee "It's not the only Italian vegetable with identity problems."
Haha!
*wondering about cauliflower* Apr 18, 2008
Prolagus A broccolo is a single broccoli head... but what the hell, I agree with you!
...and it's not the only Italian vegetable with identity problems. Apr 18, 2008
asativum But wait. I understand what a zucchina is. But what's a broccola? The veggie seems singularly fractal to me, tough to make singular.
Broccoli always reminds me of the absurdly funny sketch on Saturday Night Live about an over-the-hill rocker singing "chopping broccoli" over and over again. Apr 18, 2008
bilby lol five, what a ripe comment! You need either elocution lessons or cookery classes, or both ;-)
Apr 17, 2008
Prolagus Of course you can! And the same is for zucchina (s) and zucchine (pl), lasagna and lasagne... Berluscone and Berlusconi... no, not this one.
("Nobody is listing Berlusconi. Why don't you?"...
...I have my good reasons, thank you Wordie.) Apr 17, 2008
pterodactyl Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't you say broccoli and broccolo, just as you can say spaghetti and spaghetto? Apr 17, 2008
plethora What an unpleasant image. Apr 17, 2008
five The word oozes out of my mouth in a process much similar to the regurgitation that occurs when I attempt to eat the vegetable. Apr 17, 2008