Etymograph

English

chocolate

Chocolate comes from Classical Nahuatl chocolātl ‘a drink with pulverized toasted cacao beans…’.

  1. Classical Nahuatlc. 1300–1600chocolātl1‘a drink with pulverized toasted cacao beans and water’
  2. Spanishc. 1500–presentchocolate1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1837chocolate1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English chocolate
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Another London Life: “Chocolate came in those fairy cups of India china,…”.

Lineage

  1. Classical Nahuatlc. 1300–1600chocolātlWiktionary, English chocolate‘a drink with pulverized toasted cacao beans and water’
  2. Spanishc. 1500–presentchocolateWiktionary, English chocolate
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1837chocolateWiktionary, English chocolate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Another London Life: “Chocolate came in those fairy cups of India china,…”

The story

Borrowed from Spanish chocolate, from Classical Nahuatl chocolātl, of uncertain origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

noun A food made from ground roasted cocoa beans.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chocolate”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Classical Nahuatl chocolātl / chocolate