Refers to the plant Beta vulgaris grown for sugar production. Common in agricultural and food contexts.
北海道では甜菜の栽培が盛んです。
Sugar beet cultivation is thriving in Hokkaido.
この砂糖は甜菜から作られています。
This sugar is made from sugar beets.
Common mixed-kana spelling; the kanji 甜 is not a Jōyō kanji, so てん菜 is widely used.
Full kanji form using the non-Jōyō kanji 甜; seen in technical or botanical contexts.
Katakana spelling is common in everyday use, as the word is usually written in kana.
From Chinese 甜菜 (tiáncài), literally 'sweet vegetable'. The kanji 甜 means 'sweet' and 菜 means 'vegetable' or 'greens'.