Cassava

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kəˈsɑːvə/

Definitions

1. A key agricultural product in tropical regions, recognized for its starchy roots that are often utilized in food preparation and as a major carbohydrate source
2. This plant is renowned for its edible tubers, frequently transformed into flour or other culinary ingredients in diverse dishes
3. A tropical plant valued for its starchy tubers, which are used both as a staple food and in various processed forms, providing essential carbohydrates and nutrients

Etymology: Cassava is a root crop whose name came to English from the Caribbean rather than from Europe's older plant vocabulary. The word was borrowed from Spanish "cazabe", which itself came from a Taíno word, "kasabi", meaning cassava flour. Spanish colonists encountered the plant in the Caribbean, and the Taíno term passed into their language for both the root and the bread made from its flour. The Taíno word has a reach beyond the Caribbean. Garifuna, a language spoken by communities descended from African and Indigenous peoples on the Caribbean coast of Central America, preserves a related form, "sibiba", showing how the name travelled with the plant through trade and migration. Cazabe and cassava are doublets: two forms of the same word that entered English by different routes. "Cazabe" kept the Spanish shape and meant the bread, while "cassava" carries the sense of the root itself.

Synonyms: manioc, yuca, bitter cassava, sweet cassava, tapioca