manqué

Pronounced: mah(n)-KAY, adj (the ‘n’ is barely pronounced)

Notes: I wish I’d known this word; there are people I’ve met over the course of my life that this word fits well.

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Yesterday’s word

In addition to the usual plant/food meanings, the word cabbage can mean, as a noun:

• money, especially in the form of bills
• a stupid or mentally impaired person
• a term of endearment
• scraps remaining from a fabric that has been used to make a garment

As a verb, cabbage can mean:

• to get intoxicated
• to steal of pilfer
• to plagiarize

Background / Comments

(I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t care for this word as a term of endearment, especially given the other meanings.) There are two different origins; most of the definitions come originally from Latin caput (head) and then to Anglo-Norman kabouche (head). The other definitions (the noun “scraps” meaning and the “steal/pilfer” and “plagiarize” verb definitions are uncertain, but are thought to be an alteration of “garbage”.

First usage

The noun meaning of “scraps” and the verb meanings of “steal/pilfer” and “plagiarize” showed up in the early 1700s; the other uses go back to the late 1300s