Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - broccoli

 noun  Etymology: Italian, plural of broccolo flowering top of a cabbage, diminutive of brocco small nail, sprout  Date: 1699  1. chiefly British a large hardy cauliflower  2.  a. either of two garden vegetable plants closely related to the cabbage:  (1) one with a thick central stem and a compact head of dense usually green florets that is classified with the cauliflower  (2) one (Brassica oleracea italica) with slender stems and usually green or purple florets not arranged in a central head  b. the stems and immature florets of ~ used as food