In order to distinguish from each other, originally, deep fried battered seafood as neta was only referred to as tempura and deep fried vegetables were referred to as 'Shojin-age,' but the term of tempura is currently used as a general description to refer to tempura including the Shojin-age.
本来は魚介類をタネとした物のみを天麩羅と呼び、野菜をタネとした物は「精進揚げ」（しょうじんあげ、しょうじあげ）と呼び区別されるが、現在では精進揚げも含めた総称として天ぷらが使われている。