What does eddo mean?
An eddo is the small, rounded corm of the taro plant (Colocasia esculenta), widely cultivated and eaten as a starchy root vegetable. Roughly the size of a new potato, it has brown, fibrous skin and crisp white flesh that turns soft and slightly nutty when cooked. Eddoes must be boiled, roasted, or fried before eating, since raw taro corms contain calcium oxalate crystals that irritate the mouth. The word belongs chiefly to Caribbean English — particularly Barbados and Trinidad — and to West African English, where the vegetable arrived with the transatlantic movement of crops and peoples; speakers elsewhere are more likely to say "taro" or "dasheen." In Caribbean kitchens, eddoes feature in soups, oil-down, curries, and steamed dishes such as Bajan conkie, and they are valued as an affordable, filling staple. The term carries warm connotations of home cooking, market stalls, and traditional foodways across the region.
The small edible corm of the taro plant (Colocasia esculenta), cooked as a starchy vegetable.
"The soup was thickened with mashed eddoes instead of flour."
Chiefly Caribbean and West African usage; plural normally "eddoes."
The taro plant itself when grown for its small corms.
"They planted eddo along the damp edge of the garden."
Less common than the vegetable sense.
The regular plural "eddoes" is standard; the unchanged form "eddo" occurs occasionally in informal speech.
"Buy three pounds of eddoes from the market."
The humble eddo is so beloved in Barbados that it stars in the traditional dish 'conkie' — a cornmeal-and-eddo dumpling steamed in banana leaves.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of eddo
The word "eddo" entered English in the 17th century through contact with West Africa, most likely borrowed from a Niger–Congo language such as Ewe or Fante during the era of Atlantic trade. It traveled with the taro plant itself, which was carried to the Caribbean by enslaved Africans and became a staple crop there. The word thus stands alongside other African-derived food terms in Caribbean English, and it remains the everyday regional name for the small corms of Colocasia esculenta.
How eddo is actually used
"Eddo" is chiefly used in Caribbean English (especially Barbados and Trinidad), West African English, and among diaspora communities; "taro" or "dasheen" is more common elsewhere. The plural is usually "eddoes," though "eddo" occasionally appears unchanged.
Easily confused with eddo
Taro refers broadly to the whole plant Colocasia esculenta, while eddo specifically denotes its smaller side-corms rather than the large main corm (called dasheen in the Caribbean).