Turnip (terminology)
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 (from "swedish turnip") | yam |
| Scotland, North East England, Ireland, the Isle of Man, | swede or white turnip | turnip, yellow turnip or "neep" | yam |
| Cornwall | swede or white turnip | turnip | |
| United States, South Yorkshire | turnip | rutabaga or yellow 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, from the Swedish rotabagga, for "root bag" is mostly used in North America, in the United States and Canada. The rutabaga or swede differs from the turnip (Brassica rapa) in that it is typically larger and yellow-orange rather than white.[citation needed]
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 swede from folk etymology, while the smaller white turnips are called turnips. This is reversed in the North East of England where Geordies refer to the larger purple vegetable with the yellow flesh as a turnip, and the small white root as a swede.
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Other vegetables
Kohlrabi is also called German turnip, turnip cabbage or cabbage turnip,[2] although there the stem, not the root, is the enlarged part.