Cocao

/koʊˈkaːoʊ/ noun

Definition

An archaic or alternate spelling of cacao, the tropical tree whose seeds are used to make chocolate and cocoa.

Etymology

Variant of cacao, which comes from Spanish cacao, borrowed from Nahuatl cacahuatl, the Aztec name for the cacao plant; the spelling shifted over centuries of European documentation.

Kelly Says

This spelling variation shows how words can change as they travel between languages—chocolate's journey from the Americas to Europe involved spelling shifts that happened before standardized dictionaries existed.

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