/ ˈærəʊruːt; NAmE ˈæroʊ-/ noun
[ U ] a plant whose roots can be cooked and eaten or made into a type of flour, used especially to make sauces thick; the flour itself
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WORD ORIGIN
late 17th cent.: alteration of Arawak aru-aru (literally meal of meals) by association with arrow and the noun root , the tubers being used to absorb poison from arrow wounds.