Mandioca
/ˌmændiˈoʊkə/noun
Cassava, a tropical plant whose starchy root is eaten as food.
Did you know?Mandioca comes from a Tupi word for cassava, showing how a single Indigenous term traveled through Portuguese into world languages as the plant became a survival staple.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian
Tupi
mani'oka
“cassava, the starchy root crop”
16th Century
Portuguese
mandioca
“cassava, introduced from Brazil”
17th Century
French
manioc
“cassava plant and root”
Modern English
English
manioc
“cassava, especially the plant or its root”