parsnip: [14] The Romans called the ‘parsnip’ (and the ‘carrot’) pastināca. This was a derivative of pastinum, a term for a sort of small two-pronged fork, inspired no doubt by the forked appearance of some examples of the vegetable. In Old French the word had become pasnaie, but when English took it over, it altered the final syllable to -nep, under the influence of Middle English nep ‘turnip’ (source of the second syllable of turnip).
