a herbaceous Caribbean plant from which a starch is prepared.
Maranta arundinacea, family Marantaceae
[mass noun] the fine-grained starch obtained from arrowroot, used in cookery and medicine.
Origin:
late 17th century: alteration of Arawak aru-aru (literally 'meal of meals') by association with arrow and root1, the tubers being used to absorb poison from arrow wounds
arrowroot in other Oxford dictionaries
Definition of arrowroot in the US English dictionary
