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Glite Dictionary
Pachyrhizus erosus

Pachyrhizus erosus

9.9
A climbing tropical plant with large crisp roots eaten raw or cooked as a vegetable
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : Pachyrhizus erosus
  • Chefs recommend peeling Pachyrhizus erosus before eating it raw in salads or cooking it in stir-fries.

Examples

  • The large, crisp roots of Pachyrhizus erosus are a popular snack in Central America.

  • Farmers often grow Pachyrhizus erosus both for its edible tubers and as a source of natural insecticides.

  • I love eating Pachyrhizus erosus in salads.

  • Have you tried Pachyrhizus erosus before?

  • Chefs recommend peeling Pachyrhizus erosus before eating it raw in salads.

  • The large, crisp roots of Pachyrhizus erosus are a popular snack in Central America.

  • Farmers often grow Pachyrhizus erosus for its edible tubers and as a source of natural insecticides.

Synonyms

yam bean
vsPachyrhizus erosus
7.9

A climbing plant grown for its large edible roots eaten raw or cooked

is the scientific name for the same plant used in formal contexts

Surface Forms

Pachyrhizus erosus singular
Pachyrhizus erosuses plural

Morphology

Pachyrhizus + erosus

This is a Latin botanical binomial rather than an ordinary English phrase; its parts are scientific/latin morphemes (and one element 'erosus' is even missing from the dictionary entry), so their literal meanings do not transparently yield 'jícama' or 'edible tuber'. Identifying the referent requires specialized botanical or lexical knowledge rather than compositional inference, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent items would not reliably derive the meaning.

Etymology

Pachyrhizus erosus comes from old Greek and Latin words: pachy 'thick', rhizus 'root', and erosus 'eaten', so the name paints a simple picture of the plant's large, edible root, the jícama.