nounnoun

le chou

cabbage

C'est un légume rond avec beaucoup de feuilles vertes ou blanches que l'on mange souvent en salade ou cuit dans la soupe.

Definition & meaning

The word chou has several distinct meanings in French, ranging from botanical to culinary and affectionate uses.

Cabbage (Vegetable): Most literally, it refers to the leafy green, red, or white biennial plant used as a vegetable. For example, chou rouge (red cabbage) or chou-fleur (cauliflower).
Pastry: In the culinary world, it refers to pâte à choux (choux pastry), a light dough used to make cream puffs, éclairs, and profiteroles. A single cream puff is often called a chou à la crème .
Term of Endearment: It is a very common way to address someone affectionately, similar to "darling," "sweetie," or "honey." It is often used in the phrase mon chou or mon petit chou .
Adjective (Informal): When used as an adjective, it means "cute," "sweet," or "adorable." For instance, someone might say "C'est vraiment chou !" to mean "That is really cute!"

Grammar & Word origin

Grammar:

Gender: Masculine (le chou).
Plural: It is one of the seven French nouns ending in -ou that take an -x in the plural instead of an -s. Therefore, the plural is choux .
Adjectival use: When used as an adjective meaning "cute," it is generally invariable, meaning it does not change for gender or number.

Word origin: The word descends from the Latin caulis, which originally meant "stem" or "stalk" and later came to refer specifically to cabbage. This is the same root that led to the English word "cauliflower" and the Spanish word "col."