CHOCOLATE  , a

paste of the ground kernels of the cocoa bean, mixed with sugar, vanilla or other flavouring, made into a cake, which is used for the manufacture of various forms of sweetmeat, or in making the beverage, also known as " chocolate," obtained by dissolving cakes of chocolate in boiling water or milk (see CoeoA) . The word came into Eng. through the Fr. chocolat or Span. chocolate from the Mex. chocolatl . According to the New English Dictionary (quoting R . Simeon, Dict. de la langue Nahuatl), this was " an article of food made of . . . the seeds of cacao and of the tree pochotl (Bombax ceiba)," and was etymologically distinct from the Mexican cacauatl, cacao, or cocoa .