Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A plant (Pastinaca sativa) in the parsley family, native to Eurasia, cultivated for its long, white, edible, fleshy root.
  • noun The root of this plant.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A biennial plant, Peucedanum (Pastinaca) sativum, native through temperate Europe and part of Asia, and widely cultivated in gardens, thence again running wild.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Bot.) The aromatic and edible spindle-shaped root of the cultivated form of the Pastinaca sativa, a biennial umbelliferous plant which is very poisonous in its wild state; also, the plant itself.
  • noun See Cow parsnip.
  • noun the European cow parsnip.
  • noun the wild stock of the parsnip.
  • noun any plant of the umbelliferous genus Sium, the species of which are poisonous.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A biennial plant, Pastinaca sativa, related to the carrot.
  • noun The root of the parsnip, when used as a vegetable.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun whitish edible root; eaten cooked
  • noun the whitish root of cultivated parsnip
  • noun a strong-scented plant cultivated for its edible root

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English pasnepe, alteration (influenced by nep, turnip) of Old French pasnaie, from Latin pastināca, from pastinum, a kind of two-pronged dibble.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

16th century parsnepe, from Middle English passenep, corruption of a borrowing of Old French pasnaie by influence of nepe ("turnip"), from Latin pastinaca ("parsnip, carrot"), from pastinum ("two-pronged fork"); related to pastinare ("to dig up the ground").

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Examples

  • One thing I noted with the parsnip, is that it starts going brown on the outside before Christmas.

    Growing winter vegetables 2006

  • Hahahaha, I really can't stop laughing when I type the word parsnip now!

    sheepdip Diary Entry sheepdip 2003

  • The water-parsnip, which is poisonous, is said to be sometimes gathered for watercress; but the palate must be dull, one would think, to eat it, and the smell is a sure test.

    Round About a Great Estate Richard Jefferies 1867

  • CHEF Ben Moss is used to being known as a 'parsnip', a name he's had since he started his vegetarian cookery company The Parsnipship nearly five years ago.

    WalesOnline - Home 2011

  • CHEF Ben Moss is used to being known as a 'parsnip', a name he's had since he started his vegetarian cookery company The Parsnipship nearly five years ago.

    WalesOnline - Home 2011

  • And all this in the middle of winter, for the parsnip is the winter root par excellence.

    The Guardian World News 2009

  • Before the fabulous albino root known as the parsnip disappears, I thought I would send along a recipe that is easy to make, although it takes a while to bake.

    Everydaystranger 2009

  • So I've decided to allow one parsnip, which is a biennial, to go to seed this year, just so I can observe its natural cycle.

    Garden Rant 2009

  • It’s just the idea of parsnip in a mulligatawny which I rather balk at.

    Chris Neill's Dirty Kitchen 2010

  • It’s just the idea of parsnip in a mulligatawny which I rather balk at.

    Chris Neill's Dirty Kitchen 2010

Comments

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  • See pastinaceous.

    September 8, 2008

  • There's that weirdnet paradox again.

    A type of exsanguinated carrot. See Bunnicula, the vampire rabbit.

    March 27, 2009

  • Some are pests.

    March 27, 2009

  • usage/historical note in comment on vegetables.

    November 27, 2017

  • Parsnip, a portmanteau of Pastinaca and turnip (though often confused with parsley root leftover after the leaves and stems have been snipped).

    January 1, 2021