Turnip \Tur"nip\, n. [OE. turnep; probably fr. turn, or F. tour a turn, turning lathe + OE. nepe a turnip, AS. n[=ae]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 (Zo["o]l.), 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. (Zo["o]l.)
   (a) The turnip flea.
   (b) A two-winged fly (Anthomyia radicum) whose larv[ae] live in the turnip root.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)