rutabaga U.S.
(ˌruːtəˈbeɪgə)
Also 9 roota, ruta baga, ruta-baga.
[ad. Swed. dial. (W. Götland) rotabagge. So G. ruta-, rota-baga, F. rutabaga.]
The Swedish turnip, Brassica napus var. napobrassica. = Swede 3. Also attrib.
| 1799 J. B. Bordley Essays & Notes on Husbandry 30 The new turnip, called roota baga, is likely to stand our winters. 1800 Tuke Agric. N. Riding 157 The ruta-baga has been sown in small quantities by a few individuals, most of whom approve of it. 1820 Shelley Œd. Tyr. i. 47 Hog-wash or grains, or ruta-baga, none Has yet been ours since your reign begun. 1833 W. Sewall Jrnl. 20 June (1930) 149/2 Finished planting potatoes. Sowed rutabaga turnips. 1865 E. Burritt Walk to Land's End 376 The great landlake..rimmed with the green and purple verdure of the turnip and ruta-baga. 1916 Yukon Territory (Canada Dept. Interior) 213 The type shape is similar to a rutabaga, but the roots are smooth without laterals. 1951 O. Nash Family Reunion 107 We gobbled like pigs On rutabagas and salted figs. 1975 New Yorker 10 Nov. 176/2 Pertly written by pertly pretty housewives who have discovered organic gardening and how to rub two rutabagas together to feed four happy, whimsical tots—such books glut the shelves. 1976 [see oyster plant s.v. oyster 7 d]. |