# hlávkový



## djwebb1969

Does hlávkový have a specific meaning all by itself? I know hlávkový salát means "lettuce", but what is this literally? XXX Salad - what is the XXX?


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## Enquiring Mind

It's an adjectival form of _hlava_ - head.  It's possible in English too, mostly in a trading or market context, to talk about "heads" of lettuce to refer to the whole lettuce, especially when counting them. _Salát_ can mean any kind of cold salad dish as in English, not necessarily containing any lettuce leaves (e.g. rybí salát, okurkový salát, bramborový salát, těstovinový salát, etc.) or, in context, it can also refer to a whole lettuce. If you want to specify you're referring to the whole lettuce because it's not already clear from the context, you have the option to say _hlávkový salát._


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## djwebb1969

Thanks - that makes sense now. I'm one-quarter of the way through book 1 of Communicative Czech. Harder-going than Russian, I think.


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## Spikaly

It's an adjective from hlávka, and hlávka is derived from hlava.


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## Spikaly

from Wikipedia:

*Hlávka* (též *strboul*), latinsky _Capitulum_ je druh květenství cévnatých rostlin. Jedná se o jednoduché hroznovité květenství se zkráceným a rozšířeným vřetenem, na kterém jsou přisedlé květy. Tvar má většinou oválný (např. jetel).
 Výrazem *hlávka* se označuje i podoba některých vyšlechtěných brukvovitých rostlin (hlávkové zelí, kapusta, pekingské zelí aj.), jejichž listy tvoří charakteristický kulovitý nebo protáhlý kompaktní útvar.

my translation attempt:

*Hlávka* (also *strboul*), _Capitulum_ in Latin, is a kind of inflorescence of vascular plants. It's a simple raceme inflorescence with a shortened and widened spindle, on which there are sessile flowers. It has mostly an oval shape (f. e. clover).
The expression *hlávka* is also used for designation of the appearance of some breeded Brassicaceae plants (....), whose leaves form a characteristically spherical or elongated compact formation.


Hlávka is also a Czech surname.


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## djwebb1969

I see (I don't like the word inflorescence, but I get the meaning).


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## bibax

In Russian:

кочан = hlávka, however кочан has not the botanical meaning _capitulum_;

кочан капусты = hlávka zelí;

кочанный салат = hlávkový salát;


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## djwebb1969

кочан does mean "head" - it is listed as meaning "loaf" in the colloquial sense of "head" ("use your loaf" = "start thinking").


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