arrowroot
pronunciation
How to pronounce arrowroot in British English:
UK [ˈærəʊru:t]
How to pronounce arrowroot in American English:
US [ˈæroʊrut]
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- Noun:
- a nutritive starch obtained from the root of the arrowroot plant
- white-flowered West Indian plant whose root yields arrowroot starch
- canna grown especially for its edible rootstock from which arrowroot starch is obtained
Word Origin
- arrowroot
- arrowroot: [17] Arrowroot, a tropical American plant with starchy tubers, gets its name by folk etymology, the process whereby an unfamiliar foreign word is reformulated along lines more accessible to the speakers of a language. In this case the word in question was aru-aru, the term used by the Arawak Indians of South America for the plant (meaning literally ‘meal of meals’). English-speakers adapted this to arrowroot because the root of the plant was used by the Indians to heal wounds caused by poisoned arrows.
- arrowroot (n.)
- 1690s, from arrow + root (n.). So called because it was used to absorb toxins from poison-dart wounds.
Example
- 1. This is an ancient medicine urn used to store arrowroot .
- 2. Bermuda arrowroot is most highly esteemed .
- 3. White-flowered west indian plant whose root yields arrowroot starch .
- 4. Hey , hon , can you help him find the arrowroot ?
- 5. A nutritive starch obtained from the root of the arrowroot plant .