Cacahuate
/kakaˈwate/noun
A peanut, especially in Mexican and other varieties of Spanish.
Did you know?Cacahuate preserves an Indigenous Nahuatl word that entered Spanish during the early colonial period, alongside other food words such as chocolate and tomato.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian period
Nahuatl
cacahuatl
“Cacao bean or cacao-like seed; the source of the later Spanish word”
16th Century
Spanish
cacahuate
“Peanut; a word adopted in Spanish in Mexico and surrounding regions”
16th–17th Century
Spanish
cacahuete
“Peanut; a variant form that became especially common in Spain”
18th–19th Century
English
cacahuate
“A regional loanword for peanut, particularly associated with Mexican Spanish and Mexican American usage”
Modern English
English
cacahuate
“A peanut; chiefly a regional or cultural Spanish loanword in English”