[f. COLE sb.1 + SEED; cf. MLG. kôlsât (c. 1300), Du. koolzaad, Ger. kohlsaat, Da. kaalsäd, Sw. kålsat; and see COLZA.]
† 1. The seed of the cabbage or its varieties.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., III. 72. Nim … cawel sæd & cyllelendran.
2. The seed of Brassica campestris or Napus, var. oleifera, the source of ‘rape’ or ‘sweet’ oil; also the plant, cultivated for its seed.
[In this sense ad. Du. or LG. c. 1600. It had long been cultivated in the Netherlands and North Germany; Gerarde (1597), had ‘heard it reported, that it [Nauew gentle] is at this day sowne in England for the same purpose.’]
1670. Evelyn, Mem. (1857), II. 53. A rich harvest of hemp and cole-seed.
1725. Bradley, Fam. Dict., s.v. Marle, Coleseed, Hop-Clover, or any other Sort of Grass Seeds, grow very well on marl’d Ground.
1787. Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 2), II. 708. Its seeds [Brassica Napus] which are called Cole seed, afford a large quantity of expressed oil, called Rape oil.
1799. J. Robertson, Agric. Perth, 187. The ground is prepared for rape or cole-seed, in the same manner as for a crop of turnips.
1861. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., I. 144. Brassica Napus (Rape or Cole-seed) … Plant biennial.
