# Horseticultural Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horseticultural-question/155958 "2003-02-18T21:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![punkkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@punkkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punkkid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horseticultural-question/155958/1 "2003-02-18T21:04:15Z")
God that was a bad pun in the subject. Anyway, why do they call it _horse_radish? What makes it have anything to do with horses? ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horseticultural-question/155958/2 "2003-02-18T23:48:56Z")
Apparently not. It started out as “coarse radish”, as opposed to “edible radish”. From [this site:](http://www.wildworldofplants.com/notes/horseradish.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. ---
**Author:** ![punkkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@punkkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punkkid)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horseticultural-question/155958/3 "2003-02-19T02:44:06Z")
Thanx.