Meaning & use
cassava
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
A tropical plant with a thick starchy root that is a major food in many parts of Africa, Asia and South America.
Grammar: Usually not used with an or an: cassava is grown widely.
Patterns
- grow cassava
- a field of cassava
Farmers in the region grow cassava because it survives dry weather.
Cassava is boiled, fried or ground into flour.
Millions of people rely on cassava as a main food.
noununcountable
The starchy flour or food made from the root of this plant.
Grammar: Often used for the food itself: she served cassava with fish.
Patterns
- cassava flour
- cassava bread
She baked a cake using cassava flour instead of wheat.
The family ate cassava with spicy stew.
Common combinations
- cassava root
- Peel the cassava root before cooking.
- cassava flour
- Cassava flour is gluten-free.
- boiled cassava
- We had boiled cassava with fish.
- cassava plantation
- The cassava plantation covers many hectares.
- fried cassava
- Fried cassava is a popular snack.
Synonyms and how they differ
- manioc
- Manioc is the same plant, a more formal name often used in South America.
- yuca
- Yuca, with one c, is the name often used in Latin America and in US shops for the same root.
- tapioca
- Tapioca is the starch extracted from cassava, not the root itself.
- yam
- Yam is a different tuber, though people sometimes mistake it for cassava.
Word family
- cassava flour noun
- flour ground from the root
- tapioca noun
- starch from cassava used in puddings
- manioc noun
- another name for the plant
Commonly confused: cassava or yucca?
cassava vs yucca
Yucca, with two c letters, is an ornamental desert plant, and yuca is the edible cassava root.
Practice
Which food is made from the cassava root?
Choose one answer.
Tapioca is a starch from cassava. Oatmeal, couscous and popcorn come from oats, wheat and corn.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cassava”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.