artichoke

A Mediterranean thistle acquired a remarkably long passport: Arabic al-ḵuršūf became Andalusian Arabic al-ḵaršúf, then Spanish alcarchofa, Italian arcicioffo, and finally English artichoke. The little word al is not decorative—it is the Arabic definite article “the,” still visible in Spanish names such as alcachofa and algebra. Northern Italian speakers reshaped the middle of the word toward articiocco, perhaps under the influence of ciocco, “stump,” while English speakers later heard the ending as choke and tugged it in that direction; early spellings include archecokk and hortichock. The improved cultivated variety seems to have been bred in North Africa before reaching Italy by the mid-fifteenth century, and it arrived in England during Henry VIII’s reign. So every time you peel an artichoke, you are uncovering a linguistic thistle whose prickly outer leaves conceal an Arabic name at its core.