Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The edible root of the beet.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A normally deep red coloured
cultivar of thebeet . Aroot vegetable usually cooked or pickled before eating.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun beet having a massively swollen red root; widely grown for human consumption
- noun round red root vegetable
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Yes, while making a subzi of beetroot is common across Indian kitchens, I think the beet chop is a Bengali specialty.
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My recipe using beetroot is a yummy snack called beet chops.
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My recipe using beetroot is a yummy snack called beet chops.
Archive 2006-03-01 2006
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A man afflicted with a colour-blindness which leads him to turn out a portrait of me resplendent in beetroot hair and eyes of a vivid green cannot help himself.
Marriage as a Trade 1909
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Heart n Soul, love the idea of beetroot and gherkin.
Fennel Remoulade Haalo 2008
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Believe there is a vegetable called beetroot too, and wonder if the name cabbage is correct.
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Believe there is a vegetable called beetroot too, and wonder if the name cabbage is correct.
Woman's Endurance L, A D 1904
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Indeed, within minutes he has decided that the beetroot will be the king of this dish, so we'll oven-cook and fondant this squash, pan-fry the beetroot, braise the wonderful chard and chop the apple.
Evening Standard - Home Victoria Stewart 2011
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I still associate Sunday evenings with limp lettuce and beetroot, which is what we used to have when I was at boarding school.
Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph 2011
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The by-product from a nearby factory processing their beetroot is a relatively cheap source of nutrients and a useful conditioner for their lighter soils.
FWi - All News 2008
kewpid commented on the word beetroot
Why does it split people so? I have never come across anyone indifferent to beetroot.
October 1, 2008
frindley commented on the word beetroot
My theory involves two factors:
1. It's just so messy – all that crimson juice everywhere – and furthermore, it makes many people think of blood, so deep-set taboos probably come into play at the subconscious level.
2. Because it is commonly prepared by pickling in vinegar, there will be many who don't care for or can't stand the taste. (I count as one of these people; the couple of times I have eaten raw beetroot, which is rather sweet, I haven't minded it so much.)
Dried raw shredded beetroot manages to avoid both problems, but it's hardly ever served that way. Only in those sloppy, bleeding, vinegary slices that stain everything in the salad or burger with which they're served. A shame really.
October 1, 2008
plethora commented on the word beetroot
I'm indifferent to beetroot. But I've never eaten it.
October 1, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word beetroot
Oooh, frindley, your description is making me crave some of those sloppy bleeding vinegary slices right now...
p.s. in the United States it isn't usually called beetroot, just beets. And it's never (that I know of) served on burgers. Which is a shame, really.
October 1, 2008
bilby commented on the word beetroot
My carpetwise mother wouldn't allow it in the house, so I had limited exposure to it as a kid.
It's an important food in Russia because it stores so well through the long winter. I had plenty while I was there and it was okay, a bit too earthy on its own but just the thing in vinaigret salad.
October 1, 2008
frindley commented on the word beetroot
True. Actually, thinking of beet/beetroot always makes me think of roach/cockroach. I've long held the possibly erroneous and almost certainly unfair view that the use of the two shortened forms is a further sign of American prudishness, i.e. an unwillingness to use the words root and cock in polite company, along with the word toilet, which I have only just trained myself back into using in a unselfconscious way, two-and-a-half years after returning to Australia!
October 1, 2008
frindley commented on the word beetroot
Then there's borscht.
October 1, 2008
frindley commented on the word beetroot
My mother liked beetroot way too much. Every week she'd be boiling some up in the pressure cooker. I couldn't stand it and refused to eat it. (Refused to eat anything it had even touched!) I was once left to sit in my high chair for quite some hours after lunch with a plateful of tomato and beetroot staring at me – these being the two salad vegetables I hated. By dinner time my mother realised there was no way I was ever going to eat them. In the end she indulged me because I would eat just about everything else, including baby prawns, which were very useful for keeping me amused while she unpacked the shopping.
October 1, 2008
reesetee commented on the word beetroot
1) I love beets (or beetroot). 2) I've had it on burgers. 3) I say cockroach and live in the United States.
Just sayin'. :-)
October 1, 2008
frindley commented on the word beetroot
Just like I surmised: possibly erroneous.
October 1, 2008
reesetee commented on the word beetroot
But only if your survey includes just me. ;-> Probably a regional thing.
October 1, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word beetroot
That's an interesting theory, though, frindley, especially given the occasionally-traced-as-puritanical strains that continue to run through American culture... I would suggest another theory that might be partly responsible: Americans tend to shorten words a lot. (We're in such a hurry, you know. ;)) Maybe that's why roach and beet are slightly more common—again, if they even are more common.
Also, Americans seem less likely than others to eat the greens of beets, making the distinction between beet and beetroot less important, because it's more likely when you're mentioning the vegetable at all, that you're talking about the root. (In my experience, when any other part or even purpose of the plant is referred to, it's precisely indicated: e.g. beet greens, sugarbeet.)
Disclaimer, again: these are broad generalizations intended only to spur linguistic conversation and not ignite political/cultural flame-wars. Also, I love beet greens, but they don't love me.
October 1, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word beetroot
p.s. I've had it on burgers, too, reesetee! but it's not all that common in the U.S. it seems. :(
October 1, 2008
plethora commented on the word beetroot
Americans don't use root the same way we do, do they? So it wouldn't be considered taboo?
October 1, 2008
bilby commented on the word beetroot
Oooh, beet greens! If only I could get these *sighs* Oh well, plenty of other decent greens around.
That anecdote and description of Recalcitrant Princess Frindley in her high chair has made my day :-)
October 1, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word beetroot
Hee... no, root does not have the same slangy meaning in the United States as it does in Australia... does it also in England/U.K.? (*thinks so but is not sure*) (*now wonders about that "massively swollen" up there in the WeirdNet definition*)
Bilby, can't you buy them at the grocer? They are in supermarkets and grocery stores here. Hmm.
October 1, 2008
rolig commented on the word beetroot
More evidence of Weirdnet's lasciousness: "having a massively swollen red root…" I think Weirdnet is plagiarizing gay porn.
Edit: lasciviousness. (I'm typing too fast.)
October 1, 2008
trivet commented on the word beetroot
Mmmmmm, beets! I like 'em roasted, pickled, borschted, stewed with their tops.... And you can use them to make purple noodles.
October 1, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word beetroot
Rolig, why do you think WeirdNet defines manroot without any mention of a massively swollen red root?
p.s. did you mean lasciviousness, perchance?
October 1, 2008
frindley commented on the word beetroot
Ah, my prudishness theory is indeed shot to pieces. Will abandon it forthwith, at least in the matter of beets. I had quite forgotten to make a connection with the fact that Aussies snicker whenever Americans talk about rooting for a sports team.
October 1, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word beetroot
Do they?! That's cute. :) I remember my Aussie friends practically falling out of their chairs laughing when I told them about this company in my home state. (P.S. For maximum effect, turn the sound on when you click that link.)
I don't think your theory is shot to pieces re: toilet and ... stuff like that, though.
October 1, 2008
frindley commented on the word beetroot
*** falls out of chair laughing ***
October 1, 2008
bilby commented on the word beetroot
*** laughs like a really fat spider ***
October 1, 2008
plethora commented on the word beetroot
Hehehe, classic. No worse than Lube Mobile, though.
October 1, 2008
reesetee commented on the word beetroot
You guys aren't the only ones who laugh at RotoRooter! Of all the bizarre names....
Also, before this company became a huge conglomerate, one of the "mergee" companies was named Roach Brothers Real Estate. I suspect they employed RotoRooter for certain property problems.
October 1, 2008
rolig commented on the word beetroot
When I was a little kid in B'more, I'd go around singing the Roto-Rooter jingle all the time. I had no idea what it would do to me.
October 1, 2008
reesetee commented on the word beetroot
Heehee!
October 2, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word beetroot
So, what do root and rooting mean in Australia?
*quite curious now*
October 2, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word beetroot
Well, funny you should ask, pterodactyl: it's another word for f**k. In the sexual sense.
October 2, 2008
dontcry commented on the word beetroot
I say and love beets. Safest to eat them naked and outside -- or with your face directly over the sink.
I just say roach -- unless I'm saying it in Spanish then I say the whole thing 'cause it sounds almost like a term of endearment.
October 2, 2008
yarb commented on the word beetroot
I adore beetroot. My mother used to boil it with honey.
Dontcry: estoy en acuerdo, mi cucarachita.
October 2, 2008
dontcry commented on the word beetroot
yarb: gracias!
October 2, 2008
ruzuzu commented on the word beetroot
My Latvian grandmother used to make a potato salad with pickled hearing, pickled beets, and... well... pickles. The Americans used to refer to it as "That Pink Potato Salad."
April 4, 2011
plutoman commented on the word beetroot
I think barbabietola, the Italian for beetroot, is a pretty cool word.
April 7, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word beetroot
Oh, funny. I meant "herring," not "hearing." (I was also typing too fast--it's shocking I managed to avoid saying something about the "beats.")
March 22, 2014
fbharjo commented on the word beetroot
...and the beet goes on....
...root it on (and down)?...
March 22, 2014