■ noun
1》 a fine-grained starch used in cookery and medicine.
2》 the herbaceous Caribbean plant from which ~ is prepared. [ Maranta arundinacea .]
Origin
C17: alt. of Arawak aru-aru (lit. 'meal of meals') by assoc. with arrow and root 1 , the plant's tubers being used to absorb poison from arrow wounds.