# zelí



## cayuse

I am doing some etymological research on the names of certain vegetables. Does anyone know what the etymology of the Czech word zelí (cabbage) is? I would appreciate as detailed an etymology possible. Thanks.


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## werrr

*Zelí* comes from Proto-Slavic **zelьje* which is collective noun derived from **zelь* (green plant, herb), all from PIE *ghel- (to light; green, yellow, gold).

The same etymology applies for Czech *zelenina* (vegetable) and *zelený* (green), and also for English *yellow* or German *gelb* (yellow).


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## cayuse

Thanks for your speedy answer! This is a big help. Is there a unilingual Czech dictionary online that gives etymologies or an online Czech etymological dictionary? I have found such dictionaries for some other languages, but not for Czech.


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## cayuse

Would you know if the following words for cabbage derive from the Proto-Slavic *zelbje: зелк (zelka) (Macedonian), kelj (Serbian) and zelje (Slovenian)? On the face of it, it would look that way. Thanks for your attention.


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## bibax

There is no b in *zelьje, *ь* is the so-called soft yer, a short front vowel (probably very short i) in Protoslavic.

Slovenian *zelje* has the same etymology like Czech zelí.
BCS *kelj* is a different word, a Czech cognate is kel/klík/klíček (= sprout).

Another common Slavic word is *kapusta*, probably of Romance origin (< composta).


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## cayuse

Thanks for this information. As for the BSC *kelj* and the Czech cognates *kel/klík/klíček* (= sprout), do they ultimately derive from the Latin caulis, meaning "a stem or stalk, especially a cabbage stalk"?


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