Where does “kakao” come from?
kakao (Tok Pisin) comes from English cacao, from Spanish Cacao, from Classical Nahuatl cacahuatl, from Proto-Nahuan *kakawa-.
kakao (Tok Pisin): cocoa
Ancestry of “kakao”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | cacao | A tree, "Theobroma cacao", whose seed is used to... |
| 2 | Spanish | Cacao | — |
| 3 | Classical Nahuatl | cacahuatl | cacao, cacao bean |
| 4 | Proto-Nahuan | *kakawa- | — |