Kakao
/kəˈkaʊ/noun
A transliteration of the word for cacao or cocoa, also used as the name of a South Korean technology company.
Did you know?The word ultimately comes from Indigenous Mesoamerican languages, probably Classical Nahuatl cacahuatl, showing how a sacred and valuable American crop entered European languages after contact and conquest.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian era
Mixe-Zoquean?
kakawa
“Probable ancestral word for cacao; the deeper origin remains debated.”
16th Century
Classical Nahuatl
cacahuatl
“Cacao or cacao beverage.”
16th Century
Spanish
cacao
“Cacao; adopted from Indigenous American languages.”
17th Century
English
cacao
“The cacao tree, beans, or their products.”
18th Century
English
cocoa
“A variant that arose through alteration of cacao, later referring especially to cocoa powder or drink.”
Modern Korean and German
Korean/German
카카오 / Kakao
“Kakao as a transliteration or loan form of cacao/cocoa; Kakao is also the name of a South Korean technology company.”