# What is a Horseradish, anyway? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 13, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-horseradish-anyway/352466 "2006-04-13T01:16:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-horseradish-anyway/352466/1 "2006-04-13T01:16:32Z")
I know what a horse is. I know what a radish is. But, what the heck is a horseradish? - Jinx šŸ˜• ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-horseradish-anyway/352466/2 "2006-04-13T01:23:08Z")
Itā€™s a plant. So called because horses supposedly like eating it. Kind of like catnip. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-horseradish-anyway/352466/3 "2006-04-13T01:29:31Z")
[THIS is HorseRadish](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseradish) FTR I live in the Horseradish capital of the world, Collinsville IL [Collinsvilleā€¦Horseradish Capital of the World](http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg1296/horscap.html) You might want to check out our Horseradish Festivalā€¦ [International Horseradish Festival](http://www.horseradishfestival.com/) tsfr ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-horseradish-anyway/352466/4 "2006-04-13T01:52:54Z")
From [**Gernot Katzerā€™s Spice Pages**](http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Armo_rus.html) ,an amazing page of info about Armoracia rusticaus, including the name of the plant in many languages. Talk about German thorough research! \*\*Etymology 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 ā€œmore radishā€ or ā€œgreater radishā€, 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 ā€œseaā€ is purely coincidental. A similar motivation is also found in French: The French name raifort is probably formed from radis fort ā€œstrong radishā€. The Southern German term Kren is a loan from a Slavonic tongue, where cognates of Kren are widespread (Czech k?en, Sorbian kr?n, Russian khren [???], Ukrainian khrin [???] 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, Romanian hrean and Greek chreno [???]. The English name horseradish is allegedly derived by misinterpretation of the German Meerrettich as mare radish (ā€œmareā€ 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 ā€œlargeā€ or ā€œstrongā€; 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 ā€œrootā€. At the basis lies an Indo-European root WRAD (WRD) ā€œbranch, rootā€.\*\* I donā€™t know that horses like eating it, itā€™s pretty intense to chew; Iā€™d go with the above explaination. I LOVE eating it, as much as onions and garlic. For an intense wake-up in the morning, try toast with peanut butter and prepared horseradish. Yum! (Havenā€™t tried it with fresh grated, that would probably be too much) ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-horseradish-anyway/352466/5 "2006-04-13T02:35:03Z")
I decided to make homemade horseradish once. I bought a big oā€™l root, peeled it, chopped it, and put it in a blender. After it was basically pureed, I opened the top an took a little sniff. Donā€™t ever, _ever_ do that. ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-horseradish-anyway/352466/6 "2006-04-13T03:59:52Z")
> **[Definition of horseradish | Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/horseradish)** > > Definition of horseradish from Dictionary.com, the worldā€™s leading online source for English definitions, pronunciations, word origins, idioms, Word of the Day, and more. I like dictionaries. They have lots of words. Even ones I donā€™t know! ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-horseradish-anyway/352466/7 "2006-04-13T04:06:10Z")
Hereā€™s another one: > **[h | Search Online Etymology Dictionary](https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=h&page=11)** > > The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible... ---
**Author:** ![xiix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d6d6ee/32.png) [@xiix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xiix)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-horseradish-anyway/352466/8 "2006-04-13T04:15:34Z")
must be time for passover. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-horseradish-anyway/352466/9 "2006-04-14T08:42:06Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > FTR I live in the Horseradish capital of the world, Collinsville IL Collinsville is also the home of the [Worldā€™s Largest Catsup Bottle](http://www.catsupbottle.com/). Should it also be known as the Cocktail Sauce Capital of the World? Horseradish is powerful stuff. I once found horseradish root being sold at a grocery store, so I bought one to make prepared horseradish sauce. I tried grating it with a box grater. The fumes were so irritating that I had to leave the room every few minutes. I finished the job by using goggles to protect my eyes and breathing through my mouth to protect my nose. BTW, horseradish is one of the bitter herbs traditionally eaten at Seder (the Passover meal) to remind the participants of the bitterness of slavery. You may have noticed horseradish root being sold at your local grocery store or produce market recently. Thatā€™s because Passover began on April 12 this year, just a couple of days ago.