artichoke (English)

Where does "artichoke" come from?

The English word artichoke traveled through a rich chain of languages from the Middle East into Europe[1]. The term ultimately derives from the Arabic definite form 'al-ḵuršūf'[1], which itself may trace back to Middle Persian elements meaning 'thorn stick'[3] or to Akkadian[3]. The Arabic term passed into Andalusian Arabic as 'al-ḵaršúf'[1], which was borrowed into Old Spanish as 'alcarchofa'[1] around the year 1443[2]. From Spain, the word moved through Occitan as 'artichaut'[1] and Lombard as 'articioch'[1] before finally entering the English language as 'artichoke'[1].

Open questions

The Arabic term may be connected to Akkadian produce terminology or alternatively derived from a reconstructed Middle Persian compound meaning thorn stick. [3]

Full etymology tree

artichoke (English), 'A plant related to the thistle with enlarged flower heads eaten as a vegetable while immature, Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus.'
- borrowed articioch (Lombard)
  - derived artichaut (Occitan)
    - derived alcarchofa (Old Spanish), 'artichoke'
      - derived الْخَرْشُوف (al-ḵaršúf) (Andalusian Arabic)
        derived خَرْشُوف (ḵaršúf) (Andalusian Arabic)
        derived الْخُرْشُوف (al-ḵuršūf) (Arabic)
        derived خرشوف (ḵuršūf) (Arabic), 'artichoke'
        borrowed *xār-čōp (Middle Persian)
        compound xār (hʾl) (Middle Persian)
        compound čōp (cwp) (Middle Persian)

Ancestors

alcarchofa (Old Spanish)

Descendants and derived words

হাতিচোক (Bengali)
artichoke bottom (English)
artichoke heart (English)
artichokelike (English)
artichoke thistle (English)
artichokey (English)
choke (English)
choke (English)
choke (English)
French artichoke (English)
green artichoke (English)
Jerusalem artichoke (English)

Sources

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris