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Where does the word "mocha" come from? It comes from Arabic Mokha, and was adopted directly into English (1700s).
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Where does the word "mocha" come from? It comes from Arabic Mokha, and was adopted directly into English (1700s).
Mocha’s story begins in Arabic: Mokha meant “the port city of Mokha.” The name of a Red Sea port city in Yemen, a major coffee-trading hub. It reached English by 1700s as mocha. Came to describe the fine coffee shipped from that port. Today, mocha means a flavor combining coffee and chocolate, or a fine coffee variety.
- Stage 1 · Arabic · medieval Mokha "the port city of Mokha", the name of a Red Sea port city in Yemen, a major coffee-trading hub.
- Stage 2 · English · 1700s mocha "a high-quality coffee variety", came to describe the fine coffee shipped from that port.