Bok Choi
/ˌbɒk ˈtʃɔɪ/noun
A leafy Asian vegetable in the cabbage family, also called pak choi or Chinese cabbage.
Did you know?“Bok choi” is an English rendering of Cantonese 白菜, while Mandarin uses a related pronunciation, báicài; the different spellings reflect regional Chinese speech rather than different vegetables.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Chinese
Chinese
白菜
“White vegetable; a term for leafy vegetables of the cabbage family”
Late Imperial Chinese
Cantonese
baak coi
“Cantonese pronunciation of 白菜, literally “white vegetable””
19th–20th Century
English
bok choy
“An English transliteration of Cantonese baak coi”
20th Century
English
pak choi
“A competing transliteration, especially influenced by other Chinese romanization systems”
Modern English
English
bok choi
“A commonly used name for the leafy Asian cabbage”