cacao

noun kah-KAH-oh Rare

Origin: From Nahuatl cacahuatl, the Aztec word for the cacao bean.

Also means

cocoa

Usage Note

Cacao refers to the raw plant (Theobroma cacao), its beans, and the paste or powder made from them before processing, while chocolate names the finished product. In several Latin American countries cacao is also used colloquially to mean 'confusion' or 'mess' (¡qué cacao! = what a mess!). The Nahuatl origin makes it one of the many food words Spanish borrowed from indigenous Mexican languages.

Examples

"El cacao se cultiva en regiones tropicales."

Natural Translation

Cacao is grown in tropical regions.

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