napa cabbage

Where does the word "napa cabbage" come from? It comes from Japanese nappa, and was adopted directly into English (early-mid 1900s).

Napa cabbage’s story begins in Japanese: nappa meant “leafy green vegetables.” A colloquial word for leafy greens generally, later applied to the specific cabbage variety. It reached English by early-mid 1900s as napa cabbage. Adopted in American English as Japanese-American farmers grew and sold the vegetable in California. Today, napa cabbage means a mild, elongated variety of Chinese cabbage with crinkled, pale green leaves.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · ancient nappa "leafy green vegetables", a colloquial word for leafy greens generally, later applied to the specific cabbage variety.
2. Stage 2 · English · early-mid 1900s napa cabbage "a mild, crinkly-leafed variety of Chinese cabbage", adopted in American English as Japanese-American farmers grew and sold the vegetable in California.