Cola Is Named After a West African Nut
Cola is a sweet carbonated drink. The name comes from the kola nut, a genuine ingredient of the original recipe.
Cola is a sweet carbonated soft drink, and also the tree whose nut flavoured the first ones. The kola nut is West African, caffeine-rich and traditionally chewed and offered to guests as a sign of hospitality in much of Nigeria and Ghana. The word entered English through Temne *kola*, and nineteenth-century pharmacists used the nut in tonic drinks — the name outlived the ingredient in most modern recipes. The spelling with C follows the botanical genus name.
- A carbonated drink. *A glass of cola.*
- The kola tree. *The kola nut.*
- Kola nut — chewed for caffeine. *A kola nut.*
- Temne — *kola*. *The source.*
- West African. *The origin.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | cola | Cola. |
| Plural | colas | Colas. |
| Variant | kola | Kola nut. |
| Compound | kola nut | A kola nut. |
| Temne | kola | The nut. |
- He ordered a cola with ice.Drink.
- Kola nuts are offered to guests.Custom.
- The word is West African.Etymology.
West African words in English
- Cola — from Temne *kola*
- Yam — from a West African word for the tuber
- Banjo — probably from a Kimbundu instrument name
- Okra — from Igbo *okuru*
- Chimpanzee — from a Bantu language of central Africa
From Temne *kola*, the kola nut, adopted as the botanical genus name and then as the drink.
Do cola drinks still contain kola nut?
Most do not. The name survives from nineteenth-century tonic recipes that genuinely used the nut for its caffeine.
What is a kola nut used for?
It is chewed as a caffeine-rich stimulant and offered to guests as a mark of hospitality across much of West Africa.