Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several tropical American plants of the genus Maranta, including the arrowroot, having thin, ovate, usually spotted leaves and irregular flowers.
- noun An edible starch made from these plants.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A genus of monocotyledonous plants of the natural order Zingiberaceœ, type of the tribe Maranteœ.
- noun [lowercase] A plant of this genus.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- proper noun (Bot.) A genus of endogenous plants found in tropical America, and some species also in India. They have tuberous roots containing a large amount of starch, and from one species (
Maranta arundinacea , the American arrowroot or obedience plant) arrowroot (arrowroot starch) is obtained. Many kinds are cultivated for ornament.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of numerous herbs of the genus Maranta having tuberous starchy roots and large sheathing leaves
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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His wife said that his smoking had killed her red-veined maranta.
The New Yorker Stories Ann Beattie 2010
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Then the massive comb itself, great cavities of thick honey, poured onto maranta leaves and carried home to the children.
One River Wade Davis 1996
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Then the massive comb itself, great cavities of thick honey, poured onto maranta leaves and carried home to the children.
One River Wade Davis 1996
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The leaf of the pond lily, lotus, canna, maranta, rubber tree, magnolia, camellia, orange, and all leaves which have a waxy surface, should either be varnished or bronzed.
The Ladies Book of Useful Information Compiled from many sources Anonymous
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* It is probably a maranta, or a heliconia; its leaves are large and shining; it reaches the height of fourteen or fifteen feet, and its succulent stalks grow near one another like the stems of the reeds found in the humid regions of the south of Europe.
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The heliconia, costus, maranta, and other plants of the family of the balisiers (Canna indica), which near the coasts vegetate only in damp and low places, flourish in the American Alps at considerable height.
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Their wealth consists in land and cattle; their dwellings are generally of reeds, their beds are mats made of _Asouman_ (maranta juncea) and leopards 'skins; and their cloathing broad pieces of cotton.
Naufrage de la frigate la Méduse. English Jean Baptiste Henri Savigny 1818
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The heliconia, costus, maranta, and other plants of the family of the balisiers (Canna indica), which near the coasts vegetate only in damp and low places, flourish in the American Alps at considerable height.
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 1 Alexander von Humboldt 1814
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a maranta, or a heliconia; its leaves are large and shining; it reaches the height of fourteen or fifteen feet, and its succulent stalks grow near one another like the stems of the reeds found in the humid regions of the south of Europe.
Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 1 Alexander von Humboldt 1814
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