Chocolate Definition

Origin of Chocolate

• Often said to come from Nahuatl xocolātl (e.g. American Heritage Dictionary 2000) or chocolatl (e.g. dictionary.com 2006), which would be derived from xococ (“bitter”), and ātl (“water”), (with an irregular change of x to ch). However, the form xocolatl is not directly attested, and chocolatl does not appear in Nahuatl until the mid-18th century. Dakin and Wichmann (2000) propose that the chocol- element refers to a special wooden stick used to prepare chocolate, and suggest the correct etymology to be chicolātl, a word found in several modern Nahuatl dialects. Yet another theory is that the prefix came from Yucatec Maya chocol, hot.

  From Wiktionary

• Spanish from Nahuatl chicolātl, chocolātl frothy beverage made from water, cornmeal, and ground cacao and kapok tree seeds probably chicol-, chocol- of unknown meaning and origin ātl water

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

• In any case, the word chocolate reached English via Spanish and probably had something to do with Nahuatl ātl (“water”).

  From Wiktionary