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Probably from a Southern Italian dialect word equivalent to Standard Italian rucola, whence also, since c. 1967, English rucola. Also cognate to rocket (“plant”), eruca, roquette.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
arugula
a·ru·gu·laToday it means: Eruca spp., especially Eruca sativa (syn. Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa) Full definition →