noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
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"I can't stand arugula or any bitter greens."
A yellowish-flowered Mediterranean herb of the mustard family with flavoured leaves, often eaten in salads, that has a distinct, peppery flavor, of three species:; Eruca spp., especially Eruca sativa (syn. Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa)
Common synonyms include: garden rocket, rocket, eruca, eruca sativa, eruca vesicaria sativa, rocket salad.
I can't stand arugula or any bitter greens.
Pronounced /əˈɹuɡələ/.
Probably from a Southern Italian dialect word equivalent to Standard Italian rucola, whence also, since c. 1967, English rucola. Also cognate to rocket (“plant”), eruca, roquette.