chocolate的词源

英文词源

chocolate

chocolate: [17] Chocolate is one of the contributions made to English by the Nahuatl language of the Aztec people. Their xocolatl was a compound noun formed from xococ ‘bitter’ and atl ‘water’, and therefore when first adopted by European languages (via Spanish) it was used for the drink ‘chocolate’. This was its original sense in English, and it was not for half a century or more that it came to be applied to solid, edible ‘chocolate’.

chocolate (n.)

c. 1600, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) xocolatl, possibly from xocolia "to make bitter" + atl "water." Brought to Spain by 1520, from thence to the rest of Europe. Originally a drink; as a paste or cake made of ground, roasted, sweetened cacao seeds, 1640s.

To a Coffee-house, to drink jocolatte, very good [Pepys, "Diary," Nov. 24, 1664].

As a color from 1776. Chocolate chip is from 1940; chocolatier is attested from 1888.

中文词源

chocolate：巧克力

来自南美土著语，词源有争议。一说来自cacahuatl, caca即cacao(可可豆)，atl, 水。另一说来自xocolatl, 苦水，xococ, 苦的，atl, 水。

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：chocolate 词源，chocolate 含义。

chocolate（巧克力）：美洲土著饮用的“苦水”

16世纪初，西班牙探险家荷南多•科尔特斯（Hernan Corte）首次到达美洲时，受到当地的阿兹特克人国王蒙特祖玛（Moctezuma）的殷勤款待，第一次品尝到了一种用可可豆加水和香料制成的饮料。这种饮料在在当地语言中称为xocolatl，意为“苦水”，因为可可豆带有一种苦味。科尔特斯返回欧洲后，开始种植可可树，将可可豆磨成粉，加入水和糖后做成饮品。这种饮品深受大众欢迎，很快就在欧洲流传开。1847年，巧克力饮料中被加入可可脂，制成如今人们熟知的可咀嚼巧克力块。187年，瑞士发明了制造牛奶巧克力的方法，从而有了所看到的巧克力。英语单词chocolate就是对巧克力的美洲名称xocolatl的音译。

chocolate：['tʃɑklət]n.巧克力，巧克力色adj.巧克力的