why is horseraddish called horseradish?

Answer 1

As for the condiment's distinctive name, there are at least two possibilities. "Radish" comes from "radix," the Latin word for "root." The "horse" part may have been tacked on to distinguish it from the edible radish and to convey the size and coarseness of the root, as was done for other herbs such as horse mint and horse chestnut. Alternatively, it may have originally been named "harsh radish" due to its bitter flavor.

Answer 2

German has two different words for horseradish: Meerrettich is preferred in the North, while Southern Germans and Austrians usually call the spice Kren. Meerrettich literally means “more radish” or “greater radish”, indicating the greater size (or the stronger aroma) of horseradish compared to garden radish (Raphanus sativus). The similarity of the first element of this name to German Meer “sea” is purely coincidental. A similar motivation is also found in French: The French name raifort is probably formed from radis fort “strong radish”.

The Southern German term Kren is a loan from a Slavonic tongue, where cognates of Kren are widespread (Czech křen, Sorbian krěn, Russian khren [хрен], Ukrainian khrin [хрін] and Polish chrzan) and ultimately of unknown origin. Some other non-Slavonic European languages have also borrowed that name, e.g., French cran, Italian cren, Yiddish khreyn [כרײן], Romanian hrean and Greek chreno [χρένο].

The English name horseradish is allegedly derived by misinterpretation of the German Meerrettich as mare radish (“mare” being the English term for a female horse, for those of other mother-tongues). On the other side, several English plant names contain an element horse to denote “large” or “strong”; if one adopted the theory that horseradish is of the same kind, the name would actually parallel German Meerrettich.

The word radish (or German Rettich, or French radis) itself derives from Latin radix “root”. At the basis lies an Indo-European root WRAD (WRD) “branch, root”. The common element of plant names, -wort, has the same origin

Answer 3

http://www.horseradish.org/history.html


More recent appreciation of horseradish is believed to have originated in Central Europe, the area also linked to the most widely held theory of how horseradish was named. In German, it’s called "meerrettich" (sea radish) because it grows by the sea. Many believe the English mispronounced the German word "meer" and began calling it "mareradish." Eventually it became known as horseradish. The word "horse" (as applied in "horseradish") is believed to denote large size and coarseness. "Radish" comes from the Latin radix meaning root.

Answer 4

The plant that is used to make horseradish is a very large radish-like veggie that is called horseradish!

Answer 5

It's simple ,really. If you look at a field in which there are horses grazing you will see that the leaves of the horseradish are not grazed! The horses won't eat it hence horseradish.

Answer 6

horseradish sauce comes from the horseradish root. wasabi cannot be classified as horseradish because it has its own root which from it is made.


hope i helped.

Answer 7

because its made from the horseraddish root

Answer 8

cos in the 1800s farmers used to find it under horse dung.sorry aint got a clue god that sounded good

Answer 9

Because ponyradish sounds daft!

Answer 10

one of the mysteries of life i suppose.
then again why is radish called radish??