Meanings
plural erucae
- biologyCaterpillar; larva.
- cookingArugula: rocket.
Eruca, or Garden Rocket, was formerly much used as a salad herb, but has been long rejected on account of its ungrateful smell.
1822, Stephen Reynolds Clarke, Hortus Anglicanus; or, The modern English garden, by the author of the British botanist, page 1711 more example
The eruca, or rocket, so called from the Greek, […] was had in so great esteem heretofore, as to its efficacy in conjugal performances, that many of the antient authors, both in poetry and prose, make mention of it purely for that purpose:[…]
1727, Stephen SWITZER, The Practical Kitchen Gardiner: Or, a New and Entire System of Directions for His Employment in the Melonry, Kitchen-garden, and Potagery, in the Several Seasons of the Year, Etc, page 276
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
Cite this entry
eruca. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eruca
“eruca.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eruca. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “eruca,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eruca.
Source: eruca on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.