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tuckahoe - 6 dictionary results

tuck⋅a⋅hoe

  [tuhk-uh-hoh]
Use tuckahoe in a Sentence
–noun
1. Also called Indian bread. the edible, underground sclerotium of the fungus Poria cocos, found on the roots of trees in the southern United States.
2. arrow arum.
3. (usually initial capital letter) a Virginian, esp. one inhabiting the lowland E of the Blue Ridge.
Origin:
1605–15, Americanism; earlier applied to various roots and underground fungi < Virginia Algonquian (E sp.) tockwhogh, tockawhoughe, taccaho arrow arum root (used for bread), deriv. of Proto-Algonquian *takwah- to pound (it) fine, reduce (it) to flour; cf. Shawnee takhwa bread

arrow arum

 
–noun
a North American plant, Peltandra virginica, of wet areas, having large, arrow-shaped leaves and inconspicuous flowers enclosed in a narrow, pointed spathe.
Also called tuckahoe.

Origin:
1855–60, Americanism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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arrow arum  
n.  An emergent perennial herb (Peltandra virginica) of eastern North America, having arrowhead-shaped leaves and an elongate, pointed spathe. Also called tuckahoe.
tuck·a·hoe   (tŭk'ə-hō')   
n.  
  1. Any of various plants or plant parts used by certain Native American peoples as food, especially the edible root of certain arums or the sclerotium of certain fungi.
  2. See arrow arum.

[Of Virginia Algonquian origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tuckahoe

Tuck"a*hoe\, n. [North American Indian, bread.] (Bot.) A curious vegetable production of the Southern Atlantic United States, growing under ground like a truffle and often attaining immense size. The real nature is unknown. Called also Indian bread, and Indian loaf.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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tuckahoe 
edible plant root, 1612, Amer.Eng., from Powhatan tockawhoughe (cf. Mohegan tquogh, Shawnee tukwhah), perhaps related to Cree pitikwaw "made round."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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