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