kumara

Kumara has several distinct meanings in different cultures. In New Zealand and much of the Pacific, kumara refers to the sweet potato, a starchy tuber of the species Ipomoea batatas. In Māori usage, kumara denotes the cultivated root, which was introduced to Aotearoa by Polynesian settlers and became a staple food. Varieties include orange-, white-, and purple-fleshed types, and kumara is prepared by roasting, boiling, steaming, or mashing in traditional and modern dishes.

Linguistically and religiously, kumara appears in South Asian contexts as well. In Sanskrit and related languages, Kumara (kumāra) means "prince" or "youth" and is an epithet for Skanda, the Hindu god also known as Kartikeya or Murugan. As a given name, Kumara and Kumārā are used in India, Sri Lanka, and among the diaspora, with variants such as Kumar or Kumaran.

Thus, Kumara can refer to a staple Pacific root crop or to South Asian linguistic and religious usages centered on youth and a divine figure. The two usages are unrelated in origin, sharing only a common transliteration.