"chocolate" in seven languages
Meaningchocolate
Spanish
chocolate
/tʃokoˈlate/
masc.borrowed · Nahuatl (exact form disputed)
French
chocolat
/ʃɔkɔla/
masc.borrowed · Spanish chocolate
Italian
cioccolato
/tʃokkoˈlato/
masc.borrowed · Spanish chocolate
Also cioccolata, especially for the hot drink.
Portuguese
chocolate
/ʃokoˈlatʃi/
masc.borrowed · Spanish chocolate
Romanian
ciocolată
/tʃokoˈlatə/
fem.borrowed · Italian cioccolata
Catalan
xocolata
/ʃukuˈlatə/
fem.borrowed · Spanish chocolate
English
chocolate
/ˈtʃɔklət/
from Latin/French · Spanish chocolate
English → ItalianchocolatecioccolatoCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The ancestor
Nahuatl (via Spanish)‘a cacao drink; the exact source word is disputed’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish took the word from Nahuatl in Mexico and passed it to the rest of Europe. The often-quoted 'chocolatl' is not attested, and the exact source is still debated.
Learn it
In a sentence
- es¿Quieres un chocolate caliente?
- frTu veux un chocolat chaud ?
- itVuoi una cioccolata calda?
- ptVocê quer um chocolate quente?
- roVrei o ciocolată caldă?
- caVols una xocolata calenta?
- enDo you want a hot chocolate?