maranta

noun

ma·​ran·​ta mə-ˈran-tə 

plural marantas

: any of a genus (Maranta of the family Marantaceae, the arrowroot or prayer plant family) of tropical American plants that often form clumps and include some (such as M. leuconeura and M. cristata) grown as houseplants for their ornamentally patterned leaves

called also arrowroot

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, genus name, after Bartolomeo Maranta †1571 Italian physician and botanist

Note: The genus was characterized by linnaeus in Genera plantarum (Stockholm, 1754), p. 2. Linnaeus took the name and description from Nova plantarum Americanarum genera (Paris, 1703; p. 16, tabula 36) by friar and botanist Charles Plumier (1646-1704). Plumier named many plants in his pioneering description of West Indies flora after earlier scholars who had made some contribution to botany; for each he included a short biographical sketch.

First Known Use

circa 1740, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

maranta

noun

ma·​ran·​ta mə-ˈran-tə 

1

a

capitalized : a genus (family Marantaceae) of tropical American herbs typically with tuberous starchy roots

b

: any plant of the genus Maranta : arrowroot sense 1a

2

: the edible starch obtained from the roots of a plant of the genus Maranta (M. arundinacea) : arrowroot sense 2