cassava

Etymology

From Portuguese cassave, from Taíno *kasabi (“cassava flour”) (compare Garifuna sibiba), from Proto-Arawak *sapi.

noun

1. Manioc (Manihot esculenta), a tropical plant which is the source of tapioca.
2. Tapioca, a starchy pulp made with manioc roots.
   Jucca, ſive Yucca Peruana. The root whereof the bread Caſua, or Cazava is made. 1677, Thomas Holyoke [i.e., Thomas Holyoake], “Jucca”, in A Large Dictionary: In Three Parts: I. The English before the Latin, … II. The Latin before the English, … III. The Proper Names of Persons, Places, and Other Things Necessary to the Understanding of Historians and Poets. …, London: Printed for W[illiam] Rawlins, for G[eorge] Sawbridge, W[illiam] Place, T[homas] Basset, T[homas] Dring, J[ohn] Leigh, and J[ohn] Place, →OCLC