cacaon.
/kəˈkaʊ/, /kəˈkɑːəʊ/, /kəˈkeɪəʊ/, U.S. /kəˈkaʊ/, /kəˈkɑˌoʊ/, /kəˈkeɪoʊ/ 1. † b. The fruit or pod of the cacao tree, in which the seeds are contained; = cocoa pod n. at cocoa n. and adj. Compounds 3. Obsolete.
a. As mass noun: the seed of a tree native to tropical America, Theobroma cacao (family Sterculiaceae), from which cocoa and chocolate are prepared; cocoa beans. Also occasionally in plural. Cf. cocoa n. 2a.
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the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > cocoa-bean
cacao1555
cacao nut1625
cocoa nut1683
cocoa1698
chocolate nut1701
cacao bean1785
cocoa bean1799
criollo1877
cracked cocoa1934
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > cocoa-bean
cacao1555
cacao nut1625
cocoa nut1683
cocoa1698
chocolate nut1701
nut1707
cacao bean1785
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 315 In the steade [of money]..the halfe shelles of almonds, whiche kynde of Barbarous money they [sc. the Mexicans] caule Cacao or Cacanguate.
1594 T. Blundeville Exercises v. f. 267v Fruite, which the inhabitants call in their tongue Cacao, it is like to an Almonde..of it they make a certaine drinke, which they loue maruailous well.
1600 F. Pretty in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) III. 814 400 bags of cacaos; euery bag whereof is worth ten crownes. These cacaos goe among them for meate and money.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. xvi. 108 The cacao..must be..ground upon a broad stone, which they call Metate.
a1687 W. Petty Polit. Arithm. (1691) iv. 83 The value of Sugar, Indico, Tobacco, Cotton, and Caccao, brought from the Southward parts of America.
1702 London Gaz. No. 3842/3 A French Prize..laden with Sugar, Caco and Indigo from Martinico.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. v. 177 Her loading consisted of timber, cocao, coco-nuts, tobacco, hides.
1832 W. Macgillivray Trav. & Researches A. von Humboldt viii. 108 Cacao and sugar were also raised to a considerable extent.
1875 H. Epps Let. 30 Jan. in Jrnl. Soc. Arts 19 Feb. 300/2 A cacao-tree in good land will give about two pounds of cacao per annum.
1887 W. T. Brigham Guatemala App. 422 One hundred cacaos,—treating them as has been described,—two pods of chilli, a handful of anis and orjevala, [etc.].
1929 H. A. A. Nicholls & J. H. Holland Text-bk. Trop. Agric. (ed. 2) ii. iii. 144 (margin note) This was a pod of the real Criollo cacao, one of the best kinds known... Caraccas cacao.
1997 Nature Conservancy Jan. 14/1 Talamanca's mostly Bribri Indian farmers were forced to sell their harvests of cacao..and bananas..at mediocre prices.
2000 A. Dalby Dangerous Tastes 146 Hot water with a mixture of ground cacao and ground sapote kernels, maize and other flavourings made a refreshing drink.
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1655 N. N. America i. viii. 130 To reconcile them I suppose we must say, that what Acosta, Herrera, and others call the Cacao, is but the kernel of that Cacao which Hernandez describeth.
1684 S. Pordage tr. T. Willis Tract Scurvy in Pract. Physick (rev. ed.) 196 To the aforesaid Powder add of the Nuts of the Indian Fruit Cacao.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Hemispheroidal The Cacao opens when yellow and ripe, into two large Hemispheroids.
1751 J. Hill Hist. Materia Medica xiii. 474 The Cacao or Chocolate Nut is a Fruit of an oblong Figure.
2. The tree whose fruit yields this seed. See also cacao tree n. at Compounds 2.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > cocoa-bean > cocoa plant
cacao1604
cacao tree1640
cocoa1670
chocolate1688
chocolate tree1688
cocoa tree1698
Theobroma1760
cacao bush1839
forastero1858
criollo1955
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies iv. xxii. 270 Although the Plane be the most profitable, yet that Cacao is most esteemed at Mexico, and the Coca in Peru; in which two trees they have great superstition.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. xiii. 87 Here is made much Indigo, Sugar, Cochinill; and here grow many trees of Cacao, and Achiotte, whereof is made the Chocolatte.
1666 J. Davies tr. C. de Rochefort Hist. Caribby-Islands vi. 38 Some from the neerness of the names do sometimes confound the Cocos with the Cacao, which grows in the Province of Guatimala, neer New-Spain, which is also a famous fruit all over America.
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 11 They supply the most agreeable soils for the cacao.
1778 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. (ed. 2) II. vii. 296 The value..was estimated by the number of nuts of the cacao, which he might expect in exchange.
1832 E. Lankester Veg. Substances Food 372 The seeds of the cacao were made use of as money in Mexico.
1883 D. Morris Colony Brit. Honduras 74 Next to cacao, the most interesting plant found wild in the forests of British Honduras is the indiarubber-tree, called by the natives ‘Toonu’.
1922 W. G. Kendrew Climates of Continents 327 The air is always moist, and the forests are very luxuriant. Dense rain-forest, with rubber, vanilla, and cacao, flourishes up to about 4,000 feet.
1951 E. Mittelholzer Shadows move among Them i. xvi. 153 Wild cacao and swizzle-stick trees and ferns..grew out of reddish sand.
2008 New Scientist 20 Dec. 57/1 Monocultures of cacao are very vulnerable to disease. Brazil's cacao plantations were gutted in the 1980s when witch's broom fungus was deliberately released amid local political disputes.
3. A drink made from this seed; a hot chocolate drink; = cocoa n. 3a. Also (occasionally): = cocoa powder n. 1.
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the world > food and drink > drink > cocoa > [noun]
chocolate1604
cacao1625
chocolate cup1687
milk chocolate1723
cocoa tea1747
cocoa1786
hot chocolate1789
hot cocoa1824
shell cocoa1902
drinking chocolate1920
shell shock1935
kye1943
the world > food and drink > food > substances for food preparation > [noun] > cocoa paste, powder, or cake
cacao1625
chocolate1640
chocolate cake1661
cocoa paste1716
chocolate powder1824
cocoa1831
cocoa powder1843
broma1858
cocoa essence1866
cocoa extract1869
cocoa cake1875
cacao powder1878
1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes III. v. vii. 1092 Item, 800. Xicaras, which they call Tecomates of the best, wherein they drinke Cacao.
1662 H. Stubbe Indian Nectar ii. 8 They had brought to them jarrs of Cacao, with its froth.
1859 P. F. Stout Nicaragua xiii. 135 We hastened to the posada, and, after a cup of cacao, received the many friends who thronged to welcome us.
1869 Med. Times & Gaz. 29 May 590/1 Children would be pleased to have their farinaceous puddings sometimes flavoured with cacao.
1915 Confectioner's Gaz. 10 June 33/1 It is quite an old story, this drinking of chocolate, cocoa or cacao.
1954 K. Vonnegut in Cosmopolitan Oct. 37/1 I've had kava with the Maoris, scotch with the British, champagne with the French, and cacao with the Tupi.
2000 A. Dalby Dangerous Tastes 145 Drinking cacao was, in Aztec thought, parallel with drinking blood.
Compounds
C1. General attributive and objective, as cacao farm, cacao planter, cacao plantation, cacao seed, etc.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [adjective] > of or relating to cocoa
cacao1757
criollo1877
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > cultivation of specific crops > [noun] > cacao plantation
cocoa walk1670
cacao plantation1757
cacao walk1885
the world > food and drink > farming > farmer > [noun] > planter
planter1619
cacao planter1821
the world > food and drink > farming > farm > [noun] > other farms
home farm1749
city farm1750
county farm1785
factory farm1824
bird farm1842
provision farm1846
spade-farm1848
bush-farm1851
poor farm1852
sewage farm1870
cacao farm1871
mixed farm1872
vertical farm1897
prison farm1961
nuplex1968
1757 W. Burke Acct. European Settlem. Amer. II. vi. ii. 64 The cacao groves planted by the Spaniards began to fail.
1793 B. Edwards Hist. Brit. Colonies W. Indies II. v. 305 At present I believe there is not a single cacao plantation from one end of Jamaica to the other.
1821 Daily National Intelligencer (Washington) 22 Mar. The sugar, coffee, and cacao planters will have abundant land.
1828 A. Abbot Let. May in Lett. Interior Cuba (1929) lxiii. 240 Each of these melons contains an ounce of cacao seeds dried for the market.
1871 C. Kingsley At Last II. xvi. 283 Can nothing be done to increase the yield of the cacao-farms?
1892 Board of Trade Jrnl. May 601 The cacao crop of the past season..was the largest ever gathered.
1926 Econ. Geogr. 2 112/1 Since 1920 the prices have fallen radically, so that the cacao growers in Trinidad have been faced with ruin.
1979 A. Wendt Leaves of Banyan Tree xi. 103 The cacao crop was harvested, dried, and sold to a trading company in Apia.
1994 F. S. Weaver Inside Volcano 26 Cacao production and export..declined precipitously in the seventeenth century.
2012 A. Dermont Starboard Sea 146 In St. Lucia, we can visit our cacao plantation.
C2.
cacao bean n. the seed of the cacao tree. [Originally after German Kakaobohne (see cocoa bean n. at cocoa n. and adj. Compounds 3).]
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the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > cocoa-bean
cacao1555
cacao nut1625
cocoa nut1683
cocoa1698
chocolate nut1701
cacao bean1785
cocoa bean1799
criollo1877
cracked cocoa1934
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > cocoa-bean
cacao1555
cacao nut1625
cocoa nut1683
cocoa1698
chocolate nut1701
nut1707
cacao bean1785
1785 G. Forster tr. A. Sparrman Voy. Cape Good Hope II. 231 Who is there that does not know, how great a part cacao beans [Ger. Kakaobohnen] make of the food of the inhabitants in the country where they grow.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 292 The cacao-beans lie in a fruit somewhat like a cucumber.
1936 Discovery Feb. 41/2 In 1929 Ephestia flutella, [a moth] formerly destructive to cacao beans and then to tobacco abroad, was found in London tobacco warehouses.
2010 Ebony Feb. 110 The more cocoa, the powdered form of the cacao bean, in your chocolate, the less sugar it will contain.
cacao bush n. a cacao tree.Perhaps referred to as a ‘bush’ because in its natural habitat it is a relatively small understorey tree, and in cultivation its height is deliberately restricted.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > cocoa-bean > cocoa plant
cacao1604
cacao tree1640
cocoa1670
chocolate1688
chocolate tree1688
cocoa tree1698
Theobroma1760
cacao bush1839
forastero1858
criollo1955
1839 Mag. Domest. Econ. 323 Milk..for the use of those who sip the infusion of the Chinese leaf, or that of the coffee berry, or that of the cacao-bush.
1871 C. Kingsley At Last II. xiii. 216 The coco-palm which produces coir-rope, and coco-nuts, and a hundred other useful things, is not the same plant as the cacao-bush which produces chocolate.
1931 Torreya 31 48 Is it not possible that these cacao bushes and sapote and avocado trees are remnants of plantations of long ago?
2007 Argus (Dundalk, Ireland) (Nexis) 29 Mar. Cacao bushes, which produce the cocoa pods, will grow in a very limited geographical zone, of approximately ten degrees to the north and south of the Equator.
cacao butter n. [compare French beurre de cacao (1685)] = cocoa butter n. at cocoa n. and adj. Compounds 3.
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the world > food and drink > food > dairy produce > butter > [noun] > types of butter
May-butter?a1425
clarified butter1562
pot-butter1616
manteca1622
grass butter1648
green butter1654
drawn butter1661
cacao butter1662
ghee1665
rowen1673
ruskin1679
orange butter1696
whey-buttera1722
rowen butter1725
fairy butter1747
grease1788
Cambridge butter1830
stubble-butter1856
black jack1858
maître d'hôtel butter1861
Normandy butter1868
creamery butter1881
pound butter1888
renovated butter1888
samn1888
process butter1898
pool butter1940
garlic butter1942
yak butter1962
Normandy1973
cannabutter1994
1662 H. Stubbe Indian Nectar iii. 21 It yielded its cream, and a red shining Cacao-butter (as I may call it by an allusion to Almond-butter) and a coloured fatty water, as before.
1758 A. Reid tr. P. J. Macquer Elements Theory & Pract. Chym. II. 128 (heading) To extract the Fat Oils of Plants by Decoction in boiling Water. Cacao-Butter.
1871 A. B. Garrod Essentials Materia Medica (new ed.) 194 Oil of Theobroma... Cacao Butter. A concrete oil obtained by expression and heat from the ground seeds of Theobroma Cacao.
1934 C. C. Steele Introd. Plant Biochem. ii. v. 45 The fat (cacao butter) consists mainly of glycerides of oleic, palmitic, and stearic acids.
2001 M. Natsume et al. in C.-T. Ho & Q. Y. Zheng Quality Managem. Nutraceuticals xiii. 191 Sample 1, cacao liquor 100%; sample 2, cacao liquor, 24.39%, cacao butter, 32.93%, sucrose, 42.68%.
cacao fruit n. = cacao pod n.
ΚΠ
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xiv. 392 The Fruit grows in Clusters, all about the body of the Tree, like the Jack, Durian, and Cacao Fruits.
1791 J. Townsend Journey through Spain II. Index Cacao fruit.
1863 H. W. Bates Naturalist on River Amazons I. iv. 160 A magnificent butterfly with sickle-shaped wings, which..is readily taken when quietly feeding on decaying cacao fruits.
1994 S. D. Coe America's First Cuisines iii. 52 It is easy to tell which of the early illustrators of cacao had not seen the actual tree, because they persist in showing the cacao fruit hanging from the branches.
2009 A. D. Tarbox Rain Forest Food Chain 13/2 Yanking a cacao fruit from its slim, flimsy stem, a monkey pounds the pod against a tree to crack it open.
cacao mother n. [after Spanish madre del cacao (a1541)] a tall tree planted to provide shade for a cacao tree.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > cocoa-bean > cocoa plant > tree used to protect cocoa-tree
cacao mother1870
1870 Good Words June 383/1 The beauty of these Erythrinas, ‘Madres [sic] de Cacao’, Cacao-mothers as they call them here, because their shade is supposed to shelter the Cacao-trees.
1891 H. A. A. Nicholls Elem. Text Bk. Trop. Agric. iii. 81 For permanent shade, the immortelle tree (Erythrina umbrosa ) or the ‘cacao mother’, as it is called, is used in Trinidad; but bread fruit, bread nut, avocado pears, and guango or saman trees may be planted.
2001 A. Byrn Chocolate from Cake Mix Doctor 465/1 The taller trees like banana, coconut palm, and rubber that grow next to cacao trees and shade them from the sun are called ‘cacao mothers’.
cacao nib n. [ < cacao n. + nib n.1] each of the two cotyledons in kernel of a cacao seed, or a piece of one, esp. when raw or unprocessed; cf. cocoa nib n. at cocoa n. and adj. Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1855 Proc. Bot. Soc. Edinb. 90 Cacao nibs.
1882 D. Morris Cacao ix. 34 The bean..should be firm, bright and breaking easily, on pressure, into the familiar cacao nibs of commerce.
1912 Spice Mill 12 Apr. 334/1 Cacao nibs, if simply ground, would yield a rich and heavy food, but not a beverage.
1988 R. Berolzheimer Culinary Arts Inst. Encycl. Cookbk. 11 Chocolate, the plastic or solid product derived from grinding cacao nibs.
2006 R. Loux Balanced Plate iii. 112 Cacao beans and cacao nibs are available raw, but my humble mouth agrees, the lightly toasted varieties..have much more complex, subtle flavors.
cacao nut n. the seed of the cacao tree; (occasionally also) the pod containing this.The term is strictly a misnomer: the cacao seed lacks a true shell, the outer layer or seed coat becoming hard only when the seed is fermented and dried, and the leathery pod itself is not technically a nut. Cf. cocoa nut n. at cocoa n. and adj. Compounds 3.
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the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > cocoa-bean
cacao1555
cacao nut1625
cocoa nut1683
cocoa1698
chocolate nut1701
cacao bean1785
cocoa bean1799
criollo1877
cracked cocoa1934
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > cocoa-bean
cacao1555
cacao nut1625
cocoa nut1683
cocoa1698
chocolate nut1701
nut1707
cacao bean1785
1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes III. Alphabet. Table Cacao Nuts, of which is made money, wine and meate for the Indians.
1662 H. Stubbe Indian Nectar ii. 9 They made a certain cooling-drink of the Cacao nuts.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Chocolate To have the better Market for their Cacao Nuts, Achiott, Vanilla, and other Drugs.
1844 E. Parkinson Compl. Confectioner 35 Cacao Nuts.—The cocoa or cacao nut, of which chocolate is made, is the seed of the fruit of a tree common in South America and the West Indies.
1928 Biennial Census Manuf. 1925 (U.S. Dept. Commerce) iii. 89 Chocolate and cocoa products... Under this classification are included all establishments engaged primarily in the manufacture of the various products of the cacao nut, such as chocolate, cocoa, and cocoa butter.
2012 B. M. Traynor Second Career Volunteer vii. 105 Of course, I am being facetious, but the cacao nut is the fruit of the cacao tree, so having a chocolate milk shake for breakfast offers calcium and fruit.
cacao pod n. the fruit or pod of the cacao tree, which contains the seeds; = cocoa pod n. at cocoa n. and adj. Compounds 3.
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the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > fruit or reproductive product > [noun] > fruits of particular plants
acornOE
cacao fruit1697
pawpaw1728
partridgeberry1748
cacao pod1751
sand-bur1834
pick-cheese1874
1751 M. Postlethwayt tr. J. Savary des Brûlons Universal Dict. Trade I. 425/1 They take the cacao-pods, when ripe.., take the nuts out as they want them, and plant them immediately.
1885 A. Brassey In Trades 140 The ground is then prepared for the reception of the cacao pods, which are planted in rows.
1992 B. Coote Trade Trap xiii. 171 The farmers are all too familiar with the yellow-brown cacao pods that they labour to harvest.
2004 Living Spirit Dec. 9 Cacao pods/beans were the first form of currency in history.
cacao powder n. [compare the foreign-language parallels cited at cocoa powder n.] = cocoa powder n. 1.
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the world > food and drink > food > substances for food preparation > [noun] > cocoa paste, powder, or cake
cacao1625
chocolate1640
chocolate cake1661
cocoa paste1716
chocolate powder1824
cocoa1831
cocoa powder1843
broma1858
cocoa essence1866
cocoa extract1869
cocoa cake1875
cacao powder1878
1878 Year-bk. Pharmacy 220 The residue is mixed with an equal weight of the original cacao powder.
1908 H. H. Smith Cacao Planting 18 As long as cacao powder is so much in vogue.
2011 K. Snyder Beauty Detox Solution xi. 229 Pour the almond milk into a mug, spoon the cacao powder into the mug and mix well.
cacao tree n. = sense 2.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > edible pods, seeds, leaves, or flowers > [noun] > cocoa-bean > cocoa plant
cacao1604
cacao tree1640
cocoa1670
chocolate1688
chocolate tree1688
cocoa tree1698
Theobroma1760
cacao bush1839
forastero1858
criollo1955
1640 J. Wadsworth tr. A. Colmenero de Ledesma Curious Treat. Chocolate 7 When they are growne up, to a good heighth, then they plant the Cacao-trees.
1778 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. (ed. 2) II. viii. 412 The cacao-tree grows spontaneously in several parts of the torrid zone.
1834 Amer. Mag. Oct. 55/2 The cacao-tree bears leaves, flowers, and fruit all the year through.
1927 Travel Nov. 10/1 The lower stretches of the valley are laced with glorious lime trees and the deeper hued cacao trees whose fruits give the island its revenue.
2009 New Scientist 11 Apr. 9/1 Chocolate is made from the fermented, roasted seeds of the cacao tree.
cacao walk n. now historical and rare = cocoa walk n. at cocoa n. and adj. Compounds 3.
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > cultivation of specific crops > [noun] > cacao plantation
cocoa walk1670
cacao plantation1757
cacao walk1885
1661 E. Hickeringill Jamaica 24 Cacoa-Walks..containing ten or twelve Acres of Ground.
1764 J. Grainger Sugar-cane i. 42 The power of rain, in genial moisture bath'd His cacao-walk, which teem'd with marrowy pods.
1885 A. Brassey In Trades 140 The ground is then prepared for the reception of the cacao pods, which are planted in rows called ‘cacao-walks’.
1974 R. B. Sheridan Sugar & Slavery x. 212 Modyford himself had the best cacao walk in the island, and it was not until 1670 that he turned to sugar.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2013; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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