arrowroot的词源

英文词源

arrowroot

arrowroot: [17] Arrowroot, a tropical American plant with starchy tubers, gets its name by folk etymology, the process whereby an unfamiliar foreign word is reformulated along lines more accessible to the speakers of a language. In this case the word in question was aru-aru, the term used by the Arawak Indians of South America for the plant (meaning literally ‘meal of meals’). English-speakers adapted this to arrowroot because the root of the plant was used by the Indians to heal wounds caused by poisoned arrows.

arrowroot (n.)

1690s, from arrow + root (n.). So called because it was used to absorb toxins from poison-dart wounds.

中文词源

arrowroot：竹芋

arrow, 箭。root, 根。因古代弓箭多涂毒，该植物以解毒。

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：arrowroot 词源，arrowroot 含义。

arrowroot：竹竽n. 竹芋, 葛, 葛粉　　

该词源于南美印第安人阿拉瓦克语（Arawakan）aruaru‘meal of meals’（餐中之餐）。这是一种热带植物，可能原产于圭亚那和巴西西部，其块茎含淀粉量高，不仅是印第安人的一种普通食物来源，而且常被用作解毒药，治疗箭伤，因而早期的英国殖民者就把原名读音近似于arrow（箭）又和arrow有联系的这种植物称作arrowroot，汉语作“竹竽（粉）”。