cacao

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

/ kəˈkɑ oʊ, -ˈkeɪ oʊ /

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noun, plural ca·ca·os.

a small tropical American evergreen tree, Theobroma cacao, cultivated for its seeds, the source of cocoa, chocolate, etc.

Also cocoa. the fruit or seeds of this tree.

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Origin of cacao

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

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH cacao

cacao , chocolate, cocoa

Words nearby cacao

cabstand, cabuya, cac-, ca-ca, ca'canny, cacao, cacao bean, cacao butter, caccia, cacciatore, Caccini

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cacao in a sentence

It’s very important to produce efficiently, because cacao products are commodities and the cost of production is the most important thing.
Autochocolate|Katie McLean|December 18, 2020|MIT Technology Review
In 2010, we scaled up our cacao product output in a major way.
Autochocolate|Katie McLean|December 18, 2020|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.
Everything You Need to Know About Costa Rican Food|Nicholas Gill|November 11, 2020|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.
Meet Four Craft Chocolate Makers Decolonizing the Industry|Jinji Fraser|October 22, 2020|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.
Meet Four Craft Chocolate Makers Decolonizing the Industry|Jinji Fraser|October 22, 2020|Eater
These villages used to harvest rubber, cacao, palm oil, and coffee beans.
The Congo's Forgotten Colonial Getaway|Nina Strochlic|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Add vodka, creme de cacao, buttermilk, three drops of red food coloring, and vanilla extract to a cocktail shaker with ice.
Valentine's Day Cocktail Recipes to Fall in Love With|Alie Ward, Georgia Hardstark|February 9, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Mocha is the offspring of the marriage of two plain-looking beans: coffee and cacao.
4 Autumnal Desserts|Michel Richard|November 18, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Even so, some experts predict a global shortage of cacao beans as demand keeps growing.
Four Chocolate Questions Answered|Mary Goodbody|September 29, 2009|DAILY BEAST
I only wish somebody would pay me 10 a day for taking care of cacao, and I could leave literature to others.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25)|Robert Louis Stevenson
They employ themselves in raising cattle, making sugar and honey, and extracting oil from the cacao fruit.
The Indian in his Wigwam|Henry R. Schoolcraft
Corn-cobs they ground, mixed cacao with the powder, and baked the mixture on the fire.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 1|Hubert Howe Bancroft
Cacao forms an important article of food, both as a drink and as bread.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 1|Hubert Howe Bancroft
I bought what little cacao they had; the rest of their plunder they brought ashore and divided among our people.
Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period|Various

British Dictionary definitions for cacao

cacao

/ (kəˈkɑːəʊ, -ˈkeɪəʊ) /

noun

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

cacao bean another name for cocoa bean

cacao butter another name for cocoa butter

Word Origin for cacao

C16: from Spanish, from Nahuatl cacauatl cacao beans

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012