cacao
カカオ
解説 Definition
cacao は、チョコレートやココアの原料になる植物やその種子「カカオ」という意味です。日本語のカタカナ語とほぼ同じですが、英語では cacao beans のように加工前の豆を指す文脈でよく使われます。
A tropical evergreen tree whose seeds are used to make chocolate and cocoa, or the seeds themselves, especially when discussed as an agricultural crop or a relatively unprocessed ingredient.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
cacao はカカオノキと、その未加工に近い種子を指し、cacao tree、cacao beans、cacao farm と結び付く。cocoa は焙煎・粉砕などを経た粉や飲料に使われることが多いが、実際の表示では両語が重なる場合もある。「農園の cacao が加工されて cocoa や chocolate になる」と流れで覚える。
Picture the production chain from farm to finished food: a cacao tree produces cacao pods, which contain cacao beans; those beans are processed into ingredients used for cocoa and chocolate. This makes cacao especially natural in combinations such as cacao farm, cacao tree, cacao beans, and cacao production. Cocoa more often refers to processed powder or a drink, although commercial labels do not always maintain a strict distinction between the two words. Connecting cacao with the plant and crop stage helps you understand sentences about growing, buying, harvesting, fermenting, or roasting it.
例文
Cacao grows best in warm, wet regions.
カカオは暖かく湿った地域で最もよく育ちます。
The factory buys cacao from several small farms.
その工場はいくつかの小さな農園からカカオを買っています。
Roasted cacao gives the chocolate a deep flavor.
焙煎したカカオがチョコレートに深い風味を与えます。
cacao の類義語・関連語
派生語
紛らわしい語
cacao の語源・成り立ち Etymology
英語 cacao はスペイン語 cacao を経て、古典ナワトル語 cacahuatl に由来します。さらに古くはミヘ・ソケ語系の *kakawa にさかのぼるとされ、cocoa や chocolate と並ぶ仲間なので、『現地の作物名がそのまま世界語になった』語です。
English cacao was borrowed from Spanish cacao during the colonial period. Spanish had taken the word from Nahuatl cacahuatl, the name for cacao, and the term is often traced further to an earlier Mixe-Zoquean form reconstructed as kakawa. The name traveled internationally with the crop and its products. Cocoa is historically an altered form of cacao, while chocolate entered European languages through a separate Indigenous American term.
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