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• cocoa
  cocoa

  noun

  a powder made from roasted, husked, and ground seeds of the cacao, Theobroma cacao, from which much of the fat has been removed.
• Cocoa
  Cocoa

  noun

  a city in E central Florida.

cocoa

¹ American  

[koh-koh] / ˈkoʊ koʊ /

noun

1. a powder made from roasted, husked, and ground seeds of the cacao, Theobroma cacao, from which much of the fat has been removed.

2. cacao.

3. a beverage made by mixing cocoa powder with hot milk or water.

4. brown; yellowish brown; reddish brown.

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adjective

1. of or relating to cocoa.

2. of the color of cocoa.

cocoa ² American  

[koh-koh] / ˈkoʊ koʊ /

noun

1. coco.

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Cocoa ³ American  

[koh-koh] / ˈkoʊ koʊ /

noun

1. a city in E central Florida.

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cocoa British  

/ ˈkəʊkəʊ /

noun

1. a powder made from cocoa beans after they have been roasted, ground, and freed from most of their fatty oil

2. a hot or cold drink made from cocoa and milk or water

3. 1. a light to moderate brown colour

   2. ( as adjective )

      cocoa paint

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Etymology

Origin of cocoa¹

First recorded in 1700–10; earlier cocao, cacoa, variant of cacao

Origin of cocoa²

1545–55; misspelling of coco, by confusion with cocoa ¹

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Explanation

The dark, chocolate-brown powder you use to make brownies or devil's food cake is called cocoa. Cocoa consists of finely ground roasted cacao beans. You can use cocoa to make many chocolate treats, including pudding, cake, cookies, and hot chocolate — which is also called cocoa. Although cocoa powder smells delicious, it has to be mixed with sugar or some other sweetener for it to taste good. When the word cocoa was first used in the early 18th century, it was based on a mistake, mixing up the letters of cacao, the seed that's used to make cocoa.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cocoa Cocoa

“In the cocoa space, there is a lot of activity,” says Florian Schattenmann, chief technology officer at Cargill, the world’s largest agricultural-commodities company.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

The price of confectionery generally has been pushed up thanks to higher cocoa prices.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

Some materials involved in producing candy — notably cocoa — are more expensive than they were a few years ago.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026

But those bars of real chocolate might themselves be luxury items before long, since the world’s supply of cocoa beans is in crisis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Breakfast, which usually consisted of porridge, cocoa or tea, bread, butter, and jam, was served at nine in the morning.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

Cocoa production also remains vulnerable, said Roemer, particularly if lower-than-usual rainfall in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana in west Africa extend into the dry season.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026

The cocoa was grown at the University of Reading's International Cocoa Quarantine Centre, a collection of more than 300 types of cocoa plant.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Cocoa extract did not produce a significant improvement in functional health scores across the study population as a whole.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

Cocoa futures prices have been climbing, having only recently returned to the levels seen before the last El Niño.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026

I watch Cocoa snuggle up with her momma.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

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