sago

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an edible starch extracted from the pith of certain tropical palms and cycads, used in puddings and as a thickener

   The cook stirred sago into warm milk to make a simple pudding.

2. 2
   noun

   a palm or cycad from which sago starch is obtained

   The sago grows best in the wet lowlands of the island.

Borrowed from Malay sagu, the name of the starch and the palm that supplies it, probably through Portuguese sagu or Dutch sago. European trade carried both the food and its Malay name beyond Southeast Asia.

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