Cassava
/kəˈsɑːvə/noun
A tropical plant with starchy roots, or the edible starch made from them.
Did you know?The English word ultimately comes from a Taíno word for the plant, showing how one of the world’s most important survival foods entered global languages through the Caribbean.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian Caribbean
Taíno
kasabi
“The starchy root and bread made from it”
16th Century
Spanish
casabe
“Cassava bread”
16th Century
Portuguese
caxava / cassava
“The cassava plant or its edible root”
16th Century
French
cassave
“Cassava”
Modern English
English
cassava
“The tropical plant Manihot esculenta and its edible starchy root”