Pastinaca = parsnip?

Question

In Spanish lesson 3.8, Adverbs and Sea Animals, the Spanish word for a stingray is given as “la pastinaca”. In both my CD based Oxford Spanish Dictionary and in my Harper Collins Spanish Unabridged Dictionary book the only translation shown for “pastinaca” is “parsnip”. However, when I did an English to Spanish look up for “sting-ray” only the Harper Collins dictionary showed “pastinaca”. Is “pastinaca” less well used than “raya” or “raya venenosa”?

Answer 1

Apparently it means both. I have never used this word. Check out this link: link text

I guess it would be safer to use "raya venenosa" - Rob_TPA, Jan 27, 2011

Answer 2

it used to mean carrot too

Answer 3

My dictionary (also a Collins) has "parsnip" as "pastinaca", and "stingray" also as "pastinaca".