cacao

ca·cao
C3A1C3A1O1
UK/kəˈkaʊ/UK/kəˈkɑː.əʊ/UK/kəˈkeɪ.əʊ/US/kəˈkeɪ.oʊ/

noun

A tree, Theobroma cacao, whose seed is used to make chocolate.

Similar
cacao treechocolate treeTheobroma cacao
Less commonScrabble 9

Meanings

cacao1

nouncacao (countable and uncountable, plural cacaos)

plural cacaos

  1. countableuncountableA tree, Theobroma cacao, whose seed is used to make chocolate.
  2. countableuncountableThe seed of this tree, the cocoa bean.
  3. countablerareuncountableCocoa (hot drink).

    “I wouldn’t mind something to drink,” Niko Daun said clearly. “You say you’ve got local cacao?” […] He set down the mug of cacao from which he’d been sipping with evident approval.

    1993 November, David Drake, The Sharp End (The Hammer’s Slammers Series; 6), Riverdale, N.Y.: Baen Books, →ISBN, pages 170 and 175
    2 more examples

    Therefore they left Port à Paix just as the first streaks of gray were appearing in the east, depending on a good hot cup of cacao and a couple of bananas to nourish them sufficiently until they could enjoy the breakfast that Dave would prepare for them at the end of their morning’s share of the day’s trip. […] “Doctor, we always say ‘cocoa’ in the north, but you and all these people where it grows say ‘cacao,’ I notice. How is that?” asked Hal. / “There are four very distinct vegetable growths that have names so much alike that they are constantly mixed in the minds of those who are not botanists or do not know them in nature,” the Doctor began. “These are: Cacao berries, Coca leaves, Coco roots, and Cocoa nuts.[…]”

    1894, Eugene Murray-Aaron, The Butterfly Hunters in the Caribbees, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, pages 146 and 242

    Cacao was copiously used at their feasts, being colored with the red seeds of the achiote, or arnotto (Bixa orellana Linnæus), so that it resembled blood. At the festivals an intoxicating beer of corn was also copiously used and the rolled leaves of tobacco were smoked. […] And the Indians, both men and women, continued to drink the above-mentioned beverage, going and coming with it, and in the course of this drinking there were brought large cups of cacao prepared as they are accustomed to drink it.

    1907 August, C[arl] V[ilhelm] Hartman, “Archeological Researches on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica”, in W[illiam] J[acob] Holland, editor, Memoirs of the Carnegie Museum, volume III, number 1, Pittsburgh, Pa.: […] Carnegie Institute, pages 5 and 7

Cacao2

proper noun

Synonyms & antonyms

nountropical American tree producing cacao beans

Similar
cacao treechocolate treeTheobroma cacao
Broader
angiospermous treeflowering tree

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Classical Nahuatlcacahuatl
  2. Spanishcacao
  3. Englishcacao

From Spanish cacao, from Classical Nahuatl cacahuatl. Doublet of cocoa.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic شَجَرَة اَلْكَاكَاو, كَاكَاو
  • شَجَرَة اَلْكَاكَاوTheobroma cacao tree
  • كَاكَاو (kākāw)Theobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Bulgarian кака́ово дърво́, кака́о
  • кака́ово дърво́ (kakáovo dărvó)Theobroma cacao tree
  • кака́о (kakáo)Theobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Catalan cacau, cacauer
  • cacauTheobroma cacao tree
  • cacauerTheobroma cacao tree
  • cacauTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Chinese Mandarin 可可樹 /可可树, 可可豆
  • 可可樹 /可可树 (kěkěshù)Theobroma cacao tree
  • 可可豆 (kěkědòu)Theobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Czech kakaovník, kakaový bob
  • kakaovníkTheobroma cacao tree
  • kakaový bobTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Danish kakao, kakaobønne
  • kakaoTheobroma cacao tree
  • kakaobønneTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Dutch cacaoboom, cacaoboon
  • cacaoboomTheobroma cacao tree
  • cacaoboonTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Esperanto kakaarbo, kakaoarbo
  • kakaarboTheobroma cacao tree
  • kakaoarboTheobroma cacao tree
  • kakaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Estonian kakaopuu
  • kakaopuuTheobroma cacao tree
Finnish kaakaopuu, kaakaopapu
  • kaakaopuuTheobroma cacao tree
  • kaakaopapuTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
French cacaoyer, fève de cacao
  • cacaoyerTheobroma cacao tree
  • fève de cacaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
German Kakaobaum, Kakao
  • KakaobaumTheobroma cacao tree
  • KakaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Greek κακαόδεντρο, κακάο
  • κακαόδεντρο (kakaódentro)Theobroma cacao tree
  • κακάο (kakáo)Theobroma cacao tree
  • κακάο (kakáo)Theobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Hebrew קָקָאוֹ
  • קָקָאוֹ (kaká'o)Theobroma cacao tree
Hungarian kakaófa, kakaóbab
  • kakaófaTheobroma cacao tree
  • kakaóbabTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Icelandic kakó
  • kakóTheobroma cacao tree
Indonesian kakao
  • kakaoTheobroma cacao tree
Irish crann cócó, síol cócó
  • crann cócóTheobroma cacao tree
  • síol cócóTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Italian cacao, cacao
  • cacaoTheobroma cacao tree
  • cacaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Japanese カカオ, カカオ
  • カカオ (kakao)Theobroma cacao tree
  • カカオ (kakao)Theobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Korean 카카오, 카카오
  • 카카오 (kakao)Theobroma cacao tree
  • 카카오 (kakao)Theobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Latin cacao
  • cacaoTheobroma cacao tree
Latvian kakao
  • kakaoTheobroma cacao tree
Lithuanian kakavmedis, kakava
  • kakavmedisTheobroma cacao tree
  • kakavaTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Malay koko
  • kokoTheobroma cacao tree
Norwegian Bokmål kakaotre
  • kakaotreTheobroma cacao tree
Persian کاکائو
  • کاکائو (kâkâ'o)Theobroma cacao tree
Polish kakaowiec, kakao
  • kakaowiecTheobroma cacao tree
  • kakaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Portuguese cacaueiro, cacau
  • cacaueiroTheobroma cacao tree
  • cacauTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Romanian arbore-de-cacao, cacao
  • arbore-de-cacaoTheobroma cacao tree
  • cacaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Russian кака́о, кака́о
  • кака́о (kakáo)Theobroma cacao tree
  • кака́о (kakáo)Theobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Slovak kakaovník, kakao
  • kakaovníkTheobroma cacao tree
  • kakaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Spanish cacao, cacaotero
  • cacaoTheobroma cacao tree
  • cacaoteroTheobroma cacao tree
  • cacaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Swedish kakao, kakaoträd
  • kakaoTheobroma cacao tree
  • kakaoträdTheobroma cacao tree
  • kakaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
  • kakaobönaTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Tagalog kakaw
  • kakawTheobroma cacao tree
Turkish kakao, kakao
  • kakaoTheobroma cacao tree
  • kakaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
  • Hint bademiTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Ukrainian какао
  • какао (kakao)Theobroma cacao tree
Urdu کوکو
  • کوکو (koko)Theobroma cacao tree
Vietnamese cacao, ca-cao
  • cacaoTheobroma cacao tree
  • ca-caoTheobroma cacao tree
  • cacaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
  • ca-caoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Welsh coed cacao, ffa cacao
  • coed cacaoTheobroma cacao tree
  • ffa cacaoTheobroma cacao seed — see also cocoa bean
Yiddish קאַקאַאָ בוים
  • קאַקאַאָ בוים (kakao boym)Theobroma cacao tree

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with cacao

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

cacao. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cacao

MLA

“cacao.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cacao. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cacao,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cacao.

Source: cacao on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.