Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Turnip

Tur′nip

(tûr′nĭp)
,
Noun.
[OE.
turnep
; probably fr.
turn
, or F.
tour
a turn, turning lathe + OE.
nepe
a turnip, AS.
nǣpe
, L.
napus
. Cf.
Turn
,
Verb.
T.
,
Navew
.]
(Bot.)
The edible, fleshy, roundish, or somewhat conical, root of a cruciferous plant (
Brassica campestris
, var.
Napus
); also, the plant itself.
[Formerly written also
turnep
.]
Swedish turnip
(Bot.)
,
a kind of turnip. See
Ruta-baga
.
Turnip flea
(Zool.)
,
a small flea-beetle (
Haltica, striolata
syn.
Phyllotreta striolata
), which feeds upon the turnip, and often seriously injures it. It is black with a stripe of yellow on each elytron. The name is also applied to several other small insects which are injurious to turnips. See Illust. under
Flea-beetle
.
Turnip fly
.
(Zool.)
(a)
The turnip flea.
(b)
A two-winged fly (
Anthomyia radicum
) whose larvae live in the turnip root.

Definition 2024


turnip

turnip

English

Turnips

Noun

turnip (plural turnips)

  1. The white root of a yellow-flowered plant, Brassica rapa, grown as a vegetable and as fodder for cattle.
  2. (Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, Atlantic Canada) The yellow root of a related plant, the swede or Brassica napus.
  3. (dated) A large, heavy pocket watch, so called because its profile resembled the vegetable.

Synonyms

  • (Brassica rapa): summer turnip, swede (Ireland, Northern England, Scotland), tumshie (Scotland), white turnip (Cornwall, Scotland)

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. turnip” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).