tapioca
/tæpiˈoʊkə/ noun
Forms tapiocas
- noun A starchy food made from the cassava plant, used in puddings.
- noun The cassava plant, Manihot esculenta, from which tapioca is derived; manioc.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Portuguese tapioca, from Old Tupi tapi'oka.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A coarsely granular substance obtained by heating, and thus partly changing, the moistened starch obtained from the roots of the cassava. It is much used in puddings and as a thickening for soups.
Etymology [Braz. tapioka: cf. Pg., Sp. & F. tapioca.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tapioca”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details