Choy
/tʃɔɪ/noun
A Chinese leafy vegetable, especially one used in names such as bok choy and choy sum.
Did you know?Choy entered English through Cantonese and appears in familiar food names such as bok choy, whose name literally means “white vegetable.”
Etymological Timeline
Old Chinese
Old Chinese
菜
“Vegetable; cultivated greens”
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese
tshəjH
“Vegetable or edible plant”
Modern Cantonese
Cantonese
coi3
“Vegetable; greens”
19th–20th Century
English
choy
“A Cantonese-derived form used in English names for Chinese vegetables”
Modern English
English
choy
“A Chinese leafy vegetable, especially in culinary compounds”