Taro and tarot are spelled similarly and may be pronounced similarly, but have very different meanings. We will look at the definitions of taro and tarot, where these words come from and some examples of their use in sentences.
Taro is a tropical plant cultivated for food in Asia. The starchy rootstock or corm is roasted, boiled or baked. The elephant ear-shaped leaves are used in stews. The word taro may refer to either the rootstock or the entire plant. Taro is a word that has been borrowed from Tahitian and Māori, first entering the English language in the 1760s.
Tarot is a particular fortune-telling deck of cards. The most widely known version of tarot cards is the Rider-Waite tarot cards, published in 1910. This card set consists of twenty-two cards in the trumps suit, or the major arcana, and the wands, pentacles, cups and swords suits of fourteen cards each known as the minor arcana. A tarot deck generally consists of seventy-eight cards. Originally, tarot cards were used for game play. It is believed that tarot cards originated in Turkey and were brought to Italy in the 1500s. By the 1700s tarot cards or the tarot spread into other parts of Europe and came to be used in divination. The English word tarot is derived from the Old Italian word tarocchi.
Examples
The state of Hawaii is spending up to $500,000 to save its taro farming industry from being consumed by the nene, or Hawaiian goose, Pacific Business News has learned. (Pacific Business News)
The idea is simple: Every day, Heather Champ spreads a stack of her Rider-Waite tarot cards on a table, and waits for one of her five Nigerian dwarf goats (or one of her 21 chickens) to pick a card. (Modern Farmer Magazine)