cacao
(kəˈkeɪəʊ, kəˈkɑːəʊ)
Also (6–7 caccao), 6–8 cacoa, 8 caco, cocao; and see cocoa n.
[Sp. cacao, ad. Mexican caca-uatl ‘caca-tree’.]
1. The seed of a tropical American tree (Theobroma Cacao, family Byttneriaceæ), from which cocoa and chocolate are prepared.
| 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 342 In the steade [of money] the halfe shelles of almonds, whiche kynde of Barbarous money they [the Mexicans] caule cacao or cacanguate. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. v. (ed. 7) 568 Fruit, which the Inhabitants cal in their tongue Cacaco, it is like to an Almond..of it they make a certaine drinke which they love marvelous well. a 1687 Petty Pol. Arith. iv. (1691) 83 The value of Sugar, Indico, Tobacco, Cotton, and Caccao, brought from the Southward parts of America. 1702 Lond. Gaz. No. 3842/3 A French Prize..laden with Sugar, Caco and Indigo from Martinico. 1748 Anson Voy. ii. v. (ed. 4) 248 Her load consisted of timber, cocao, coco-nuts, tobacco, hides. 1836 Macgillivray Humboldt's Trav. viii. 108 Cacao and sugar were also raised to a considerable extent. 1849 W. Irving Columbus II. 315. |
† 2. The powder produced by grinding the seeds, often with other substances mixed; also the drink prepared from the seeds or powder; = cocoa n.
| 1652 Wadsworth Chocolate 2 Cacao..is cold and dry. 1662 H. Stubbe Ind. Nectar ii. 8 They had brought to them jarrs of Cacao. |
3. The tree whose fruit yields this seed, more fully called cacao-tree.
| 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 11 They supply the most agreeable soils for the cacao. 1778 Robertson Hist. Amer. II. vii. 296 The value..was estimated by the number of nuts of the cacao, which he might expect in exchange. 1832 Veg. Subst. Food 372 The seeds of the cacao were made use of as money in Mexico. |
4. attrib., as in cacao-bush, cacao-farm, cacao-nut, cacao-planter, cacao-powder, cacao-tree, etc.; also cacao-bean, the seed of the cacao-tree; cacao-butter, a fatty matter obtained from the cacao-nut, used for making pomades, candles, etc.; cacao-mother, a tree used to protect the delicate cacao-tree; cacao-walk, a plantation of cacao-trees.
| 1652 Wadsworth Chocolate 13 When they are growne up to a good hight, then they plant the Cacao-trees. 1661 Hickeringill Jamaica 30 Two of these little Cacoa Nuts (or Kernells) passe currant for one farthing. Ibid. 24 Cacoa-Walks..containing ten or twelve Acres of Ground. 1662 H. Stubbe Ind. Nectar ii. 9 They made a certain cooling-drink of the Cacao nuts. 1778 Robertson Hist. Amer. II. viii. 412 The cacao-tree grows spontaneously in several parts of the torrid zone. 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 292 The cacao-beans lie in a fruit somewhat like a cucumber. 1871 Kingsley At Last vii, Lombardy poplar[s]..the beauty of these ‘Madres de Cacao’, Cacao-mothers as they call them here because their shade is supposed to shelter the Cacao-trees. Ibid. xiii, The cacao-bush which produces chocolate. Ibid. xvi, Can nothing be done to increase the yield of the cacao-farms? 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 140 The ground is then prepared for the reception of the cacao pods, which are planted in rows called ‘cacao-walks’. 1908 H. H. Smith Cacao Planting 18 As long as cacao powder is so much in vogue. Ibid. 41 The Jamaica cacao planters. 1936 Discovery Feb. 41/2 In 1929 Ephestia flutella, formerly destructive to cacao beans and then to tobacco abroad, was found in London tobacco warehouses. |