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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Portland sago

Sago \Sa"go\ (s[=a]"g[-o]), n. [Malay. s[=a]gu.] A dry granulated starch imported from the East Indies, much used for making puddings and as an article of diet for the sick; also, as starch, for stiffening textile fabrics. It is prepared from the stems of several East Indian and Malayan palm trees, but chiefly from the Metroxylon Sagu; also from several cycadaceous plants ( Cycas revoluta, Zamia integrifolia, etc.). Portland sago, a kind of sago prepared from the corms of the cuckoopint ( Arum maculatum). Sago palm. (Bot.)

  1. A palm tree which yields sago.

  2. A species of Cycas ( Cycas revoluta).

    Sago spleen (Med.), a morbid condition of the spleen, produced by amyloid degeneration of the organ, in which a cross section shows scattered gray translucent bodies looking like grains of sago.

Usage examples of "portland sago".

This starch of the root, after repeated washing, makes a kind of arrowroot, formerly much prepared in the Isle of Portland, and sold as an article of food under the name of Portland Sago, or Portland Arrowroot, but now obsolete.