turnip

Meanings

Noun

• The white root of a yellow-flowered plant, Brassica rapa, grown as a vegetable and as fodder for cattle.
• The yellow root of a related plant, the swede or Brassica napus.
• The white root of Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus, also known as a daikon.
• A large, heavy pocket watch, so called because its profile resembled the vegetable.

Verb

• To plant with turnips.
• To feed or graze (livestock) on turnips.

Related

Similar words

• summer turnip, white turnip (Cornwall, Scotland)
• rutabaga (North America), swede (Ireland, Northern England, Scotland), tumshie (Scotland)
• see daikon

Origin

• From Middle English turnepe, probably from turn + Middle English nepe, from Old English nǣp, from Latin nāpus. The component turn may be due to the round shape of the plant as though turned on a lathe, or because it must be turned and twisted to be harvested. Cognate to neep. See also parsnip.