yuca

noun

"yuca" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“yuca” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
4
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - cassava

Corpus desk

Index EN-yuca · yuca · English

yuca · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "Y" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for yuca
PropertyValue
Headwordyuca
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters4
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “yuca” in English

yucafalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

yuca is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for yuca, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Via Spanish yuca (also historically juca), frequently said to be of Taíno origin. While the word is almost certainly from an indigenous American language, the source is not known. Perhaps from Kari'na yuca (“cassava”) , but this appears to be a ghost word. … The correct English form is yuca, spelled Y-U-C-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    cassava
  2. 2
    cassava root

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how yuca appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. In the equatorial regions of South America, starch is abundantly prepared from the Yuca (Jatropha manihot), and from several species of palm.
  2. She spooned out yuca into what I assume was my plate, and chorizo from a red frying pan.

Etymology

Via Spanish yuca (also historically juca), frequently said to be of Taíno origin. While the word is almost certainly from an indigenous American language, the source is not known. Perhaps from Kari'na yuca (“cassava”) , but this appears to be a ghost word. Doublet of yucca.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "yuca"?
"yuca" is spelled Y-U-C-A.
What does "yuca" mean?
As a noun, "yuca" means: cassava
What is the origin of the word "yuca"?
Via Spanish yuca (also historically juca), frequently said to be of Taíno origin. While the word is almost certainly from an indigenous American language, the source is not known. Perhaps from Kari'na yuca (“cassava”) , but this appears to be a gh... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list