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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

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

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

As part of COSMOS, participants were randomly assigned to receive a daily multivitamin, a cocoa extract supplement, both supplements, or neither.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

Experts say climate change has led to extreme rainfall and droughts which have decreased cocoa farmers' crops.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

The group attributed the belated increase to increased demand for cocoa powder and some customers "replenishing their stocks".

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

They’d piled a mat of dead hemlock boughs over the snow and they sat wrapped in their blankets watching the fire and drinking the last of the cocoa scavenged weeks before.

From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

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

In both grocery aisles and the public consciousness, items such as avocados and almonds were deemed too fatty to be “healthy,” while Cocoa Puffs and Pop-Tarts technically qualified.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026

Cocoa accounts for about 7% of Ghana's GDP, or national income, and the beans' export makes up around 15% of the country's foreign exchange earnings.

From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2026

We leash up Cocoa and set off for the exit.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas