Cacahuete
/kakaˈwete/noun
A peanut, especially in Spanish usage or in English contexts borrowing the Spanish term.
Did you know?The Nahuatl root behind cacahuete referred to cacao, while the peanut was more specifically called tlālcacahuatl—“earth cacao”—because it grew underground.
Etymological Timeline
Before the 16th century
Nahuatl
cacahuatl
“Cacao bean; a term associated with the cacao plant and its seeds”
Before the 16th century
Nahuatl
tlālcacahuatl
““Earth cacao,” the Indigenous name for the peanut, describing its underground growth”
16th Century
Spanish
cacahuate
“Peanut; adopted from Nahuatl in colonial Mexico”
16th–17th Century
Spanish
cacahuete
“Peanut; a regional Spanish form that became especially common in Spain”
Modern English
English
cacahuete
“A borrowing from Spanish for peanut, used mainly in specialized, literary, or multilingual contexts”