A tropical plant of the taro family, also called taro, with large heart-shaped leaves and an edible underground corm or tuber.
From a Creole or West African origin (possibly from African languages via Caribbean slave trade), possibly related to Yoruba or Bantu roots. The word became standard in English-speaking Caribbean colonies.
Food words reveal history: 'dasheen' for taro made it into English through the Caribbean slave trade, so the word itself carries the history of West African agricultural knowledge being brought to Caribbean plantations—the crop's success depended on people whose labor and expertise was stolen.
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