Manioc
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The tropical plant Manihot esculenta, from which tapioca is prepared; cassava, yuca. countable, uncountable, usually
"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."
- 2 cassava with long tuberous edible roots and soft brittle stems; used especially to make cassiri (an intoxicating drink) and tapioca wordnet
- 3 Cassava root, eaten as a food. uncountable, usually
"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."
- 4 cassava root eaten as a staple food after drying and leaching; source of tapioca wordnet
- 5 A food starch prepared from the root. uncountable, usually
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- 6 a starch made by leaching and drying the root of the cassava plant; the source of tapioca; a staple food in the tropics wordnet
Example
More examples"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."
Etymology
From French manioc, through Portuguese mandioca, ultimately from Old Tupi mani'oka.
Related phrases
More for "manioc"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.