Tur"nip (?), n. [OE.
turnep; probably
fr. turn, or F. tour a
turn, turning lathe + OE. nepe a turnip, AS. n&aemacr;pe, L. napus. Cf. Turn,v. 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 (Zoöl.), a small flea-beetle (Haltica, or 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. (Zoöl.)
(a) The turnip flea. (b) A two-winged fly (Anthomyia radicum) whose larvæ live in the turnip root.
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