Rapini

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of leafy green vegetable also known as broccoli rabe that is characterized by its small, edible flowers and slightly bitter flavor
2. This vegetable, popular in Mediterranean cuisine, features elongated leaves and is harvested for both its greens and flower buds
3. Known for its unique taste, this plant is often used in various dishes and provides a nutritional powerhouse of vitamins and minerals

Etymology: Rapini is the Italian name for broccoli rabe, a leafy green with slim stalks, small florets and a bitter, peppery bite. The name looks like a plural, but it is not one. It is a diminutive of "rapo," which is a variant of "rapa," the Latin-derived Italian word for turnip. The word therefore began as a little turnip, a fitting label for a vegetable that is closer to a turnip's leafy cousin than to a head of broccoli. The name is a small joke of shape and size. Adding the diminutive ending to "rapo" yields something like "little turnip," and the Italian growers who gave the vegetable this name were pointing to the turnip family resemblance rather than to the broccoli it is often mistaken for. English speakers adopted the Italian term as is, so the word carries that original reference to the turnip inside it.

Synonyms: broccoli rabe, turnip tops