# garlic



## elroy

I just discovered that in Spanish you can say "ajos" ("garlics") to mean "cloves of garlic."

In English, "garlics" is not possible unless you mean "types of garlic"; otherwise you have to say "cloves of garlic" or "heads of garlic," depending on what you mean.

It's the same in Palestinian Arabic.

garlic = تومة ("garlic")
cloves of garlic = سنان تومة ("teeth of garlic")
heads of garlic = روس تومة ("heads of garlic")

What about other languages?


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## bearded

Same thing in Italian:

garlic = aglio (from Latin _allium_)
cloves of garlic = spicchi/cime d'aglio
heads of garlic = teste d'aglio

We hardly use 'garlics' (agli) in the plural.

Please note the pronunciation of the gli cluster: like in Spanish lli (palatalised).


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## elroy

What does "agli" mean when it is used?  Does "cime" have a literal meaning?


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## bearded

''Cime'' literally means tops - or tips.

''Agli'' (very seldom used) would mean different sorts of garlic. But we would rather say ''diversi tipi/diverse qualità di aglio'' (different types of garlic).

Cime d'aglio


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## amikama

Hebrew:

garlic = *שום*
cloves of garlic = *שיני שום* ("teeth of garlic")
heads of garlic = *ראשי שום* ("heads of garlic")

Plural שומים does exist, though. It may mean "heads of garlic" or "types of garlic", depending on the context.


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## bearded

For ''a clove of garlic'' ,  ''uno spicchio d'aglio'' is very common in Italian.  ''Spicchi'' are the elements which  also compose oranges or lemons.. ''Cime'' might have different meanings according to the regions.


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## elroy

bearded said:


> the elements which also compose oranges or lemons


“segments” in English.


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## apmoy70

Greek:

Garlic: *«σκόρδο»* [ˈs̠ko̞rðo̞] (neut. nom. sinɡ.) < Classical neut. noun *«σκόροδον/σκόρδον» skórŏdŏn* and var. *skórdŏn* --> _ɡarlic, Allium sativum_ (from a possible PIE root *skord-/*skodor-/*skorod- cf. OArm. սխտոր [səχˈtɔɾ]).
Clove(s) of garlic:
(1) Simply the plural *«σκόρδα»* [ˈs̠ko̞rða] (neut. nom. pl.), or,
(2) *«σκελίδα/σκελίδες σκόρδου»* [s̠ce̞ˈliðaˈsko̞rðu] (sinɡ.) --> _(a) clove of ɡarlic_, [s̠ce̞liðe̞ˈs̠ko̞ɾðu] (pl.) --> _cloves of ɡarlic_. 
*«Σκελίδα»* [s̠ce̞ˈliða] (fem.) --> _slice/segment of anything that is divided naturally into smaller pieces, clove_ < Classical 3rd declension fem. noun *«σκελίς» skĕlís* (nom. sing.), *«σκελίδος» skĕlídŏs* (gen. sing.) < Classical neut. noun *«σκέλος» skélŏs* --> _leg, limb, thigh_ (PIE *(s)kelH- _to cut, carve, split_ cf Lat. scalpere, Proto-Germanic *skelduz > Ger. Schild, Eng. shield).


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## Penyafort

In Catalan:

· garlic = *all */aʎ/ (<Latin ALLIUM)​· cloves of garlic = *grans d'all* (singular: *un gra d'all* --literally, a grain)​· heads of garlic = *bulbs* *d'all* _or _*cabeces d'all* (singular: *un bulb d'all */bulp/*, una cabeça d'all* /kə'βεsə/ --the word for head in Catalan is _cap_ (<CAPUT), but _cabeça _(<CAPITIA) is used for those of garlic, onions, etc.​


elroy said:


> I just discovered that in Spanish you can say "ajos" ("garlics") to mean "cloves of garlic."


In Spanish, you often specify just as in Arabic, using 'teeth' and 'heads':

cloves of garlic = *dientes de ajo*​heads of garlic = *cabezas de ajo*​


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## elroy

Penyafort said:


> In Spanish, you often specify just as in Arabic, using 'teeth' and 'heads':
> 
> cloves of garlic = *dientes de ajo*​heads of garlic = *cabezas de ajo*​


You might be interested in this thread: Unos quince ajos


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## elroy

Penyafort said:


> _cabeça _(<CAPITIA) is used for those of garlic, onions, etc.


How about cabbage?



Penyafort said:


> cloves of garlic = *dientes de ajo*


Is Spanish the only Romance language that uses "teeth"?  If so, could it be an Arabic influence?


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## Penyafort

elroy said:


> How about cabbage?


We are complicated. Forget _cap _or _cabeça_; for cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli..., the word is either _capça (_back from_ capçada) _or _cabdell _(this one also being used for balls of yarn, from *CAPITELLU 'little head). _Capçada _would be for that of a tree (from *CAPITIATA). And these are only some of the derived words from head. 



elroy said:


> Is Spanish the only Romance language that uses "teeth"?  If so, could it be an Arabic influence?


Portuguese too, I think. I hadn't thought of it, but it might be a calque indeed. I can't remember Latin using dens for a clove now, it could be a question for the Latin forum.


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## alfaalfa

elroy said:


> Is Spanish the only Romance language that uses "teeth"?


No "teeth" about Italian garlic
_ Agli_ and _cipolle _(onions) are often stored and sold just like braids
_Trecce d'aglio.


 _typo


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## hx1997

Mandarin:

garlic - (大)蒜
cloves of garlic - 蒜瓣
one, two, etc clove(s) of garlic - 一、两...瓣蒜 (瓣 also being the measure word for segments of citrus fruits)
heads of garlic - 蒜(头)
one, two, etc head(s) of garlic - 一、两...头(or 颗)蒜


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## Demiurg

German:
garlic = Knoblauch (Lauch = _leek_)
cloves of garlic = Knoblauchzehen (_toes_)
heads of garlic = Knoblauchknollen (_tubers_) / Knoblauchzwiebeln (_bulbs_)


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## AutumnOwl

Swedish:
Garlic - vitlök (white onion)
Head of garlic - vitlökshuvud (same), or (en hel) vitlök (a whole) garlic
Clove of garlic - vitlöksklyfta (_klyfta_ is also used for a segment (carpel) of orange. The word _klyfta_ also means gap, gorge, chasm).


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## apmoy70

alfaalfa said:


> No "teeth" about Italian garlic
> _ Agli_ and _cipolle _(onions) are often stored and sell just like braids
> _Trecce d'aglio._


Similarly here, onion and garlic often are sold in braids, called *«πλεξούδα/πλεξούδες»* [ple̞ˈk͡s̠uða[ (fem. nom. sinɡ.)/[ple̞ˈk͡s̠uðe̞s̠] (fem. nom .pl.) the same word for _hair braid_ < ByzGr neut. *«πλεξούδιν» pleksoúdin* (idem) < Classical feminine 3rd declension noun *«πλέξις/πλέξεως» pléksĭs* (nom. sinɡ.)/*pléksĕōs* (ɡen. sinɡ.) --> _plaiting, weaving_ a deverbative from the verb *«πλέκω» plékō* --> _to weave, braid_. 
Τhe ByzGr neuter suffix *«-ούδιν» -oúdin* is the metaplasm of the Koine productive suffix *«-ούδιον» -oúdĭŏn* for constructinɡ diminutive neuter nouns from contracted masculine ones, which later formed the feminine  «-ούδα» -oúda too e.ɡ Class. masc. *«φλόος/φλοῦς» pʰlóŏs* (uncontracted)/*pʰloûs* (contracted) --> _rind_ > Koine neuter diminutive *«φλούδιον» pʰloúdĭŏn* (idem) > ByzGr fem. *«φλοῦδα» phloûda* (idem).

Edit: The head of garlic, is *«κεφάλι σκόρδου»* [ce̞ˈfali.ˈs̠ko̞rðu] --> _head of ɡarlic_ here too.


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## raamez

Apart from tooth سنّ we (in Syria) also use lobe فصّ for a garlic clove.


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## Awwal12

Russian:
garlic - чеснок (chesnók)
head of garlic - головка чеснока (golóvka chesnoká, "little head of garlic")
clove of garlic - зубчик чеснока (zúbchik chesnoká, "little tooth of garlic").


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## Yendred

Nobody mentioned French yet?

_un *ail*_ [aj] (one head of garlic) / _des _*aulx *[o] (several heads of garlic).

_Aulx_ is one of the most irregular French plural (with _un oeil / des yeux_), but the plural form _aulx_ tends to disappear, since most people often just don't know it and say _des ails, _or even more naturally treat it as uncountabl_e_:_ de l'ail.

Clove(s) of garlic = gousse(s) d'ail_


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## Welsh_Sion

*Cymraeg/Welsh*

garlic - *cra* (n.m.)*'r gerddi* ('garden ramsons'), *craf *(n.m.) *y gerddi *(ibid.), *garllegen** (n.f.), *garlleg *(n.m.)

a clove of garlic - *ewin* (n.m.) *garlleg* (n.m.) ('a [finger] nail of garlic')

**Not* to be confused with *gellygen *(n.f.) 'a pear' - but often is, which is also often incorrectly written, *garlleg*.


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## ThomasK

elroy said:


> I just discovered that in Spanish you can say "ajos" ("garlics") to mean "cloves of garlic."
> 
> garlic = تومة ("garlic")
> cloves of garlic = سنان تومة ("teeth of garlic")
> heads of garlic = روس تومة ("heads of garlic")
> 
> What about other languages?


Dutch: _*teentjes *look/ lookt*eentjes*_, *little toes *of garlic


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## AutumnOwl

Welsh_Sion said:


> *Cymraeg/Welsh*
> 
> garlic - *cra* (n.m.)*'r gerddi* ('garden ramsons'), *craf *(n.m.) *y gerddi *(ibid.), *garllegen** (n.f.), *garlleg *(n.m.)
> 
> a clove of garlic - *ewin* (n.m.) *garlleg* (n.m.) ('a [finger] nail of garlic')
> 
> **Not* to be confused with *gellygen *(n.f.) 'a pear' - but often is, which is also often incorrectly written, *garlleg*.


Finnish also has nail/claw of garlic - valkosipulikynsy (white onion claw).


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## Nanon

Yendred said:


> _un *ail*_ [aj] (one head of garlic) / _des _*aulx *[o] (several heads of garlic).
> _Aulx_ is one of the most irregular French plural (with _un œil / des yeux_), but the plural form _aulx_ tends to disappear, since most people often just don't know it and say _des ails, _or even more naturally treat it as uncountable: _de l'ail_.


I, for one, always treat _ail _(singular) as uncountable and never say _un ail_, just _de l'ail_. When counting, I say _une, deux... quarante gousses d'ail. Gousse_ is a pod, like in peas.
I am tempted to say that _aulx _is a regionalism. You won't hear _aulx _often in speech, but you will see it written if you go to a street market in the south of France. I don't know about other countries. Maybe _aulx _tends to disappear because of its archaic, irregular form, maybe also - but this is unlikely -  due to homophony with _eau _[o] (water): change water for garlic in a recipe and you will get a totally different result 


Penyafort said:


> Portuguese too, I think.


Indeed: _um dente de alho._


alfaalfa said:


> _ Agli_ and _cipolle _(onions) are often stored and sold just like braids


Also in France: _des tresses d'ail._


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## Armas

AutumnOwl said:


> Finnish also has nail/claw of garlic - valkosipulikynsy (white onion claw).


Nail = _kynsi_
An old-fashioned word for garlic is _kynsilaukka_ (nail onion).

As for "head" of garlic, we don't use a word like that, but say "one garlic, two/many garlics".


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## ThomasK

The number of different words, well, metaphors, used to refer to the little pieces is amazing as for me. Isn't it? 

As for a the (un)countability we in Dutch can never refer to *_loken _or something, i.e. some kind of plural. It is only singular or uncountable rather, and if we want to refer to the pieces, we simply refer to _lookteentjes _(little garlic toes)...


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## Zareza

Yendred said:


> _Clove(s) of garlic = gousse(s) d'ail_


S'utilise-t-il aussi _caïeu_ (clove of garlic)? (_caïeu _< Lat. _catellus_ - puppy)


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## Zareza

Romanian

*garlic* = *usturoi* (sg.pl. - the same form) (*<* a ustura - to burn *in the mouth)

*cloves of garlic* = *căței de usturoi* (puppies of garlic) 
*(cățel, căței* (sg.pl.) *<* Lat. _catellus_ - puppy*)

heads of garlic* = *căpățâni de usturoi* (heads of garlic) 
*(căpățână,-i *(sg.pl.) *<* Lat. _capitina_ < _caput, capitis_ - head*)*

/_căpățână _is used especially for _căpățână de usturoi_ OR _căpățână de varză (cabbage)_/

@Yendred _un *ail*_ [aj] (one head of garlic)

There is also a regionalism that comes directly from Latin _allium_ *>* *ai* = garlic


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## Nanon

Zareza said:


> S'utilise-t-il aussi _caïeu_ (clove of garlic)? (_caïeu _< Lat. _catellus_ - puppy)


Oui, on utilise _caïeu _en botanique, mais pas dans le langage courant.


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## Penyafort

Nanon said:


> Oui, on utilise _caïeu _en botanique, mais pas dans le langage courant.


Very interesting for several reasons. 

In Catalan we have _gos _for dog and _cadell _for puppy, but none of them used at all for cloves of garlic, and I sincerely can't see what relation they could have in the past. 

I also would have imagined _caïeu _to be older than _gousse_, as I can still imagine a clove as a 'puppy' from a whole garlic, but apparently it's the other way round!

I guess _caïeu _must be a word coming from Norman or Picard too, since a more logical evolution in French would start with ch-


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## elroy

Penyafort said:


> I sincerely can't see what relation they could have in the past.


I found that striking too!



Penyafort said:


> I also would have imagined _caïeu _to be older than _gousse_, as I can still imagine a clove as a 'puppy' from a whole garlic, but apparently it's the other way round!


I'm not following you here.   Could you please elaborate?


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## Penyafort

elroy said:


> I'm not following you here.   Could you please elaborate?


The attestation of the use of gousse for that goes back to the 13th century.


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## elroy

(Sorry, I got confused because of the phonetic similarity between _gousse_ and _gos_!  )

Why would you expect _caïeu _to be older than _gousse_?  Couldn’t the “puppy” metaphor have arisen later?


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## Penyafort

elroy said:


> (Sorry, i got confused because of the phonetic similarity between _gousse_ and _gos_!  )
> 
> Why would you expect _caïeu _to be older than _gousse_?  Couldn’t the “puppy” metaphor have arisen later?



Because -ellus implies a diminutive so I could still relate it to "little something, part of something". But the metaphor could have perfectly arisen later, of course.


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## Welsh_Sion

Is there any connection between -ell /-ɛl/ diminutive in Cat. and -ell /-ɛɬ/ diminutive in Welsh?

e.g.
*traeth* (n.m.) 'a beach' >* traethell* (n.m.) 'a small beach'
*ffynnon* (n.f.) 'a fountain' > *ffynhonnell* (n.f.) 'a spring'

The latter derives from Latin _fontana _... the former possibly from Lat. tractis, otherwise it's Celtic. (GPC)


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## Nanon

According to _Dictionnaire historique de la langue française_ (Robert):

_Caïeu / cayeu_ (1625-1651) is indeed a Norman term, related to_ catellus / catulus_. The metaphor is that of an offspring or an offsprout. It is used for all bulbs, not just garlic. 
_Gousse _is a late (1538) form of _gose / gosse_ (XIII c.), feminine of _gos_: dog. Another proposed origin(Guiraud) suggests that _gousse _is related to Gallo-Roman _volsa_ and Old French _vous, vousse _(adj - curved or rounded) from Latin _volvere _(to wrap) and _volvus _(a bulb).


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## AndrasBP

Welsh_Sion said:


> Is there any connection between -ell /-ɛl/ diminutive in Cat. and -ell /-ɛɬ/ diminutive in Welsh?


According to GPC:

*-ell* 

[< Brth. *_-ellā_, _-illā_, cf. y Llad. _-ellus_, _-ella_, _-ellum_, fel yn yr e. _agellus_, _patella_, _castellum_; digwydd yr oldd. hwn hefyd mewn e.p. Gal., e.e. enwau’r afonydd _Indella_, _Mosella_, _Timella_, &c.] 

_oldd._ _bach._ a ddigwydd mewn e. fel _angell_, _astell_, _crimell_, _ffynhonnell_, _hunell_, _iyrchell_, _priddell_, _tagell_, _tarddell_; mewn e.p. fel _Ariannell_, _Gwynnell_, _Mechell_, &c.; ac mewn enwau nentydd fel _Crafnell_, _Crychell_, _Llyfnell_, &c.

Does the first line say that the Brittonic suffix was borrowed from Latin or are the suffixes cognates?


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## Welsh_Sion

Translation

"The Brythonic *-ella, -ila compare Latin -ellus, -ella, -ellum as in the examples agellus, patella, castellum; this suffix also occurs in Gaulish proper nouns, e.g. river names Indella, Mosella, Timella etc."

"Diminutive suffix which occurs in examples like angell, astell ... tarddell; in proper nouns like Arianell, Gwynnell, Mechell etc; and in the names of streams like Crafnell, Crychell, Llyfnell, etc."


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## AndrasBP

Welsh_Sion said:


> Translation


So what's your conclusion?


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## Penyafort

Welsh_Sion said:


> Is there any connection between -ell /-ɛl/ diminutive in Cat. and -ell /-ɛɬ/ diminutive in Welsh?


I didn't know about that. If you think it can't be borrowed from Latin, might a Proto-Italic *-elos form for diminutives be akin to a Proto-Celtic one?



Nanon said:


> According to _Dictionnaire historique de la langue française_ (Robert):
> 
> _Caïeu / cayeu_ (1625-1651) is indeed a Norman term, related to_ catellus / catulus_. The metaphor is that of an offspring or an offsprout. It is used for all bulbs, not just garlic.
> _Gousse _is a late (1538) form of _gose / gosse_ (XIII c.), feminine of _gos_: dog. Another proposed origin(Guiraud) suggests that _gousse _is related to Gallo-Roman _volsa_ and Old French _vous, vousse _(adj - curved or rounded) from Latin _volvere _(to wrap) and _volvus _(a bulb).


If the latter part is true, that would certainly explain the relationship better, and why gousse is previous.


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## AndrasBP

Hungarian:

garlic = fokhagyma (lit. "tooth onion")
a head of garlic = egy *fej *fokhagyma (lit. "head")
a clove of garlic = egy *gerezd *fokhagyma (same word used for orange segments, cf. It. spicchio)


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## Welsh_Sion

And how about the so-called Italo-Celtic? 😁.

I suggest cognates Lat > Cat / Bryth > Wel.

But hey, I'm no specialist in historical philology!


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