cabbage
cab·bage/ˈkæbɪd͡ʒ/noun, verb
cabbage is spelled C-A-B-B-A-G-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (cab·bage). It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cabbage means “An edible plant (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) having a head of green leaves” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cabbage is cabbages.
How many letters and syllables are in cabbage?
| Letters | 7: C-A-B-B-A-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: cab·bage |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 13,897th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cabbage?
Cabbage appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cabbage?
- US /ˈkæbɪd͡ʒ/
- British /ˈkabɪd͡ʒ/
- Australia /ˈkæbəd͡ʒ/
Cabbage has 2 syllables, split cab·bage in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cabbage.ogg, En-uk-cabbage.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with cabbage
Sounds like: CABG (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of cabbage
- cabbages plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cabbaging participle, present
- cabbaged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cabbage mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An edible plant (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) having a head of green leaves.
- 2
Any of various cultivars of the species Brassica oleracea.
- 3
The leaves of this plant eaten as a vegetable.
Cabbage is good for you.
- 4
offensiveA person with severely reduced mental capacities due to brain damage.
After the car crash, he became a cabbage.
- 5
Used as a term of endearment.
- 6
slangMoney.
- 7
slangMarijuana leaf, the part that is not smoked but from which cannabutter can be extracted.
- 8
A terminal bud of certain palm trees, used for food.
- 9
slangScraps of cloth which are left after a garment has been cut out, which tailors traditionally kept.
verb
- 1
To form a head like that of the cabbage.
to make lettuce cabbage
- 2
slangTo do nothing; to idle; veg out.
- 3
slangTo be killed or murdered, such as by being shot in the head.
- 4
To embezzle or purloin; to pilfer, to steal.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cabbage in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Kopfkohl , Kohl |
| Portuguese | repolho , couve , vegetal |
| Spanish | repollo , col, berza |
| French | chou |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cabbage come from?
From Middle English caboche, cabage (“cabbage”; “a certain fish”), a borrowing from Anglo-Norman caboche (“head”), a northern variant of caboce, of uncertain origin. Some authorities derive it from Latin caput (“head”), others from ca- (said to be an expressive prefix) + boce (“hump; bump”) (whence English boss).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).