Etymology

cassava

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Today it means: Manioc (Manihot esculenta), a tropical plant which is the source of tapioca. Full definition →

Spanish cazabe ← Taíno *kasabi ← Proto-Arawak *sapi
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The story

  1. Proto-Arawak · derived from*sapi
  2. Taíno · derived from*kasabi“cassava flour”
  3. Spanish · borrowed fromcazabe
  4. English todaycassava

Borrowed from Spanish cazabe, from Taíno *kasabi (“cassava flour”) (whence Garifuna sibiba), from Proto-Arawak *sapi. Doublet of cazabe (“bread made of cassava”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.