bok choy

Where does the word "bok choy" come from? It comes from Cantonese baak coi, and was adopted directly into English (1800s).

Bok choy’s story begins in Cantonese: baak coi meant “white vegetable.” Literally white vegetable, describing the pale-stemmed leafy green. It reached English by 1800s as bok choy. Cantonese 'white vegetable'; brought to North America by 19th-century Cantonese migrants. Today, bok choy means a leafy Chinese cabbage with pale stems, used widely in East Asian cooking.

1. Stage 1 · Cantonese · medieval baak coi "white vegetable", literally white vegetable, describing the pale-stemmed leafy green.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1800s bok choy "a leafy Chinese cabbage", Cantonese 'white vegetable'; brought to North America by 19th-century Cantonese migrants.