Meaning & use
jicama
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountable
A round root vegetable from Mexico with thin brown skin and crisp, slightly sweet white flesh, often eaten raw.
Grammar: Usually uncountable in cooking: add some jicama; countable when talking about whole roots.
Patterns
- slice jicama
- peel the jicama
She cut jicama into thin sticks to serve with lime and chili.
The salad had crunchy jicama and orange slices.
Peel the jicama before slicing it for the slaw.
Word forms
| plural | jicamas |
|---|
Common combinations
- raw jicama
- Raw jicama tastes a little like a crisp apple.
- slice jicama
- Slice jicama thinly for tacos.
- jicama slaw
- We served the fish with a jicama slaw.
- peel the jicama
- Peel the jicama with a sharp knife.
- jicama sticks
- Jicama sticks with lime make a refreshing snack.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Mexican turnip
- Mexican turnip is another name for jicama, but it is more descriptive and less common in cookbooks.
- yam bean
- Yam bean names the plant species more widely, while jicama refers to the root as food.
Word family
- jicama salad noun
- a salad containing sliced jicama
Commonly confused: jicama or turnip?
jicama vs turnip
A turnip is a different root vegetable with a sharper taste, usually cooked, while jicama is sweet and eaten raw.
Practice
How is jicama most often eaten?
Choose one answer.
Jicama is valued for crisp, juicy flesh, so it is usually eaten raw in salads and snacks.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “jicama”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.