Turnip (disambiguation)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Turnip can refer to three vegetables, which are described under the articles Turnip, Rutabaga, and Jicama. The confusion results from the following regional differences of usage.

Scientific term Brassica rapa rapa Brassica napus or B. napobrassica Pachyrhizus
Southern England, most Commonwealth countries turnip swede (= Swedish turnip) yam bean
Ireland and parts of Northern England swede turnip  
Cornwall white turnip turnip  
Scotland swede, tumshie or white turnip turnip or neep  
United States turnip rutabaga or yellow turnip jicama
Atlantic Canada   turnip jicama
Malaysia, Singapore, and Philippines     turnip
also called white turnip or summer turnip yellow turnip or winter turnip sweet turnip

Brassica napus and B. napobrassica are called swedes (a shortening of Swedish turnip) in England, especially in the South, and in most dialects of the Commonwealth. Rutabaga is mostly an American word. The rutabaga or swede differs from the turnip (Brassica rapa) in that it is typically larger and yellow-orange rather than white.

However, in some dialects of British English the two vegetables have overlapping or reversed names. In the north of England and Scotland, the larger, yellow rutabagas are called neeps or turnips from folk etymology, while the smaller white turnips are called swedes.

Look up turnip in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.


[edit] Other uses

Turnip also refers to a character from Chrono Cross who is actually very similar to a vegetable.