Dictionary

yuca en · NOUN

Etymology

Via Spanish yuca (also historically juca), frequently said to be of Taíno origin. While the word is almost certainly from an indigenous American language, the source is not known. Perhaps from Kari'na yuca (“cassava”) , but this appears to be a ghost word. Doublet of yucca.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) cassava
2. (countable, uncountable) cassava root
   • In the equatorial regions of South America, starch is abundantly prepared from the Yuca (Jatropha manihot), and from several species of palm. 1845, Jean Baptiste J.D. Boussingault, Rural Economy, in Its Relations with Chemistry, Physics and Meteorology, Tr. with an Intr. and Notes by G. Law, page 95:
   • She spooned out yuca into what I assume was my plate, and chorizo from a red frying pan. 2014, Marlon James, A Brief History of Seven Killings, Oneworld Publications (2015), page 485:

Forms

Deriveds

yucca