cabbage tree

noun

1

: any of several palms having an edible terminal bud:

a

: an Australian palm of the genus Livistona (especially L. australis)

b

New Zealand : ti sense 1

c

: cabbage palmetto

2

: any of certain trees resembling in some respect a cabbage palm: such as

a

: cabbage bark

b

: any of several African araliaceous trees (genus Cussonia) with soft spongy wood and sparse angular branches that terminate in tufted foliage or in a spikelike inflorescence

Word History

First Known Use

1661, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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