manioc

Definition

The tropical plant Manihot esculenta, from which tapioca is prepared; cassava, yuca.

Etymology

From French manioc, through Portuguese mandioca, ultimately from Old Tupi mani'oka.

Example Sentences

• "1975, William R. Bascom, African Dilemma Tales, Mouton (De Gruyter), page 86, The banana, the most important crop above ground, quarreled with the manioc, the most important underground crop. […] The manioc said that it, the yam, the sweet potato, and others were the ones that fed people and that without them people could not exist."
• "1977, Donald W. Lathrap, Our Father the Cayman, Our Mother the Gourd, Charles A. Reed (editor), Origins of Agriculture, Mouton (De Gruyter), page 741, The selection process leading to the bitter group of maniocs has been in terms of higher starch yield and in terms of starch of a quality more appropriate for making bread ans flour."
• "Manioc, the main subsistence crop of Amazonia, is planted entirely from cuttings, which are inserted into mounds hoed up in the spaces left between the logs and the stumps."