cacao

[ kuh-kah-oh, -key-oh ]

noun

, plural ca·ca·os.

1. a small tropical American evergreen tree, Theobroma cacao, cultivated for its seeds, the source of cocoa, chocolate, etc.
2. Also the fruit or seeds of this tree.

cacao

/ kəˈkɑːəʊ; -ˈkeɪəʊ /

noun

1. a small tropical American evergreen tree, Theobroma cacao, having yellowish flowers and reddish-brown seed pods from which cocoa and chocolate are prepared: family Sterculiaceae
2. cacao bean
   another name for cocoa bean
3. cacao butter
   another name for cocoa butter

Word History and Origins

Origin of cacao¹

First recorded in 1545–55; from Spanish, from Nahuatl cacahuatl “cacao seeds”

Word History and Origins

Origin of cacao¹

C16: from Spanish, from Nahuatl cacauatl cacao beans

Example Sentences

It’s very important to produce efficiently, because cacao products are commodities and the cost of production is the most important thing.

From MIT Technology Review

In 2010, we scaled up our cacao product output in a major way.

From MIT Technology Review

In the mountainous Talamanca region in the south, communities of Bribri and Boruca people live off the land, safeguarding many ancestral ingredients, while also growing cacao for wider consumption.

From Eater

As a chocolate maker in the 21st century, we carry the responsibility to correct some of the historical injustices which have taken place in the cacao industry.

From Eater

We would dream about someday being on a cacao farm and picking the beans to make chocolate, a dream our grandparents were never able to fully realize for themselves.

From Eater

These villages used to harvest rubber, cacao, palm oil, and coffee beans.

From The Daily Beast

Add vodka, creme de cacao, buttermilk, three drops of red food coloring, and vanilla extract to a cocktail shaker with ice.

From The Daily Beast

Mocha is the offspring of the marriage of two plain-looking beans: coffee and cacao.

From The Daily Beast

Even so, some experts predict a global shortage of cacao beans as demand keeps growing.

From The Daily Beast

I only wish somebody would pay me 10 a day for taking care of cacao, and I could leave literature to others.

From Project Gutenberg

They employ themselves in raising cattle, making sugar and honey, and extracting oil from the cacao fruit.

From Project Gutenberg

Corn-cobs they ground, mixed cacao with the powder, and baked the mixture on the fire.

From Project Gutenberg

Cacao forms an important article of food, both as a drink and as bread.

From Project Gutenberg

I bought what little cacao they had; the rest of their plunder they brought ashore and divided among our people.

From Project Gutenberg