Etymology
The origin of the word is unclear. There are two hypotheses:
- African origin, it means "fermented drink" in West Africa, and was brought into Brazil and the rest of Latin America by slaves from Cabo Verde islands, then to the Madeira islands.
- Tupi origin, from guarab, meaning a fermented drink laced with honey
In Brazilian Portuguese, garapa is also used figuratively as meaning a good thing, easy to get. Garapa doida (crazy garapa) is also the name given to cachaça in the Amazon region.
In Paraguay, guaripola or simply guari is reserved for the alcoholic beverage, and mosto for the fresh, non-fermented sugar cane juice. As a further differentiation, retailers use mosto helado (ice-cold mosto) to refer to the non-industrial, ready-to-drink, road-side, or bar variety.
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