cassava

C2 Topic:Plants & Agriculture

Also spelled cassada

US /kəˈsɑ.və/ UK /kəˈsɑː.və/ See IPA manual

Freq #60590

Meanings

1

noun
a tropical American plant, Manihot esculenta, cultivated for its large starchy roots

Cassava grows well in tropical soils where many cereal crops fail.
2

noun
the edible root of this plant, which must be properly processed to remove naturally occurring cyanide compounds

The cook grated the cassava root before soaking and roasting it.
3

noun
starch or meal prepared from cassava root, including the source material for tapioca

Cassava is ground into flour for bread, porridge, and other staple foods.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a tropical american plant,... maniocyuca

2 noun · the edible root of this... manioc rootyuca

3 noun · starch or meal prepared... cassava starchmanioc flourtapioca starch

Word family

Derived forms cassava starchcassava flour

Related forms tapiocaManihot esculentamanioc

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

cassava starch
a carbohydrate powder extracted from cassava roots and used to make tapioca

Noun + noun

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish cazabe, a word for cassava bread or meal, from Taino kasabi. The English name shifted from the prepared food to the plant and its starchy root; manioc and yuca are other widely used names.

Topics

Plants & Agriculture

External links

# cassava

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /kəˈsɑ.və/
**IPA (UK):** /kəˈsɑː.və/
**Frequency rank:** 60590

## Meanings
1. a tropical American plant, Manihot esculenta, cultivated for its large starchy roots
2. the edible root of this plant, which must be properly processed to remove naturally occurring cyanide compounds
3. starch or meal prepared from cassava root, including the source material for tapioca

## Examples
- Cassava grows well in tropical soils where many cereal crops fail.
- The cook grated the cassava root before soaking and roasting it.
- Cassava is ground into flour for bread, porridge, and other staple foods.

## Synonyms
- manioc
- yuca

## Derived Forms
- cassava starch
- cassava flour

## Related Forms
- tapioca
- Manihot esculenta
- manioc

## Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish cazabe, a word for cassava bread or meal, from Taino kasabi. The English name shifted from the prepared food to the plant and its starchy root; manioc and yuca are other widely used names.

## Topics
- Plants & Agriculture

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