manioc

noun

Etymology: From French manioc, through Portuguese mandioca, ultimately from Old Tupi mani'oka. Doublet of manihot.

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

   “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.”

2. Cassava root, eaten as a food.

   “In the morning, after a frugal breakfast of coffee and manioc - we had to be economical of our stores - we held a council of war as to the best method of ascending to the plateau above us.”

   “Ground manioc (cassava) is mixed with water and pressed through tube woven from palm fibers to remove toxic cyanogenic compounds.”

3. A food starch prepared from the root.