arrowroot

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a nutritive starch obtained from the root of the arrowroot plant
  2. noun white-flowered West Indian plant whose root yields arrowroot starch
  3. noun canna grown especially for its edible rootstock from which arrowroot starch is obtained

Etymology

From Lokono aru-aru (literally “meal of meals”), influenced by arrow + root because the plant’s “roots” (more accurately rhizomes) are used on wounds from poison darts to absorb the poison.

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