tea

Meaning

Noun

1. The tea plant (Camellia sinensis); (countable) a variety of this plant.
2. The dried leaves or buds of the tea plant; (countable) a variety of such leaves.
3. The drink made by infusing these dried leaves or buds in hot water.
4. Any drink which is similar to Camellia sinensis tea in some way:
5. Any drink which is similar to Camellia sinensis tea in some way:
6. Any drink which is similar to Camellia sinensis tea in some way
7. A cup or (East Asia, Southern US) glass of any of these drinks, often with milk, sugar, lemon, and/or tapioca pearls.
8. A light midafternoon meal, typically but not necessarily including tea.
9. Synonym of supper, the main evening meal, whether or not it includes tea.
10. The break in play between the second and third sessions.
11. (slang) Synonym of marijuana.
12. (slang) Information, especially gossip.

Verb

1. To drink tea.
2. To take afternoon tea (a light meal).
3. To give tea to.

Concepts

tea

coffee

Camellia sinensis

tea leaf

tea party

afternoon tea

teatime

green tea

five o'clock tea

hot water

tee

Theaceae

beverage

herb tea

marijuana

camellia thea

camellia theifera

thea bohea

thea sinensis

thea viridis

char

tea-plant

herbal tea

English tea

black tea

species

tea tree

hot beverage

leaf

afternoon snack

tea leaves

key

high tea

bun-fight

orange pekoe

lunch

tea plant

oil

dinner

evening meal

supper

cuppa

gallic acid

breakfast

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tiː/

Etymology

First appears c. 1655, in the writings of Álvaro Semedo. From Dutch thee, from Hokkien 茶 (tê) (Amoy dialect), from Old Chinese, ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-la (“leaf, tea”). Introduced to English and other Western European languages by the Dutch East India Company, who sourced their tea in Amoy; compare Malay teh along the same trade route. Doublet of chai and cha (and, distantly, the first element of lahpet), from same Proto-Sino-Tibetan root; see discussion of cognates.
Cognates
The word for “tea” in many languages is of Sinitic origin (due to China being the origin of the plant), and thus there are many cognates; see translations. These are from one of two proximate sources, reflected in the phonological shape: forms with a stop (e.g. /t/) are derived from Min Nan tê, while forms with a fricative (e.g. /tʃ/) are derived from other Sinitic languages, like Mandarin chá or Cantonese caa4 (all written as 茶). Different languages borrowed one or the other form (specific language and point in time varied), reflecting trade ties, generally Min Nan tê if by ocean trade from Fujian, Cantonese caa4 if by ocean trade from Guangdong, or northern Chinese chá if by overland trade or by ocean trade from India.
Thus Western and Northern European languages borrowed tê (with the exception of Portuguese, which uses chá; despite being by ocean trade, their source was in Macao, not Amoy), while chá borrowings are used over a very large geographical area of Eurasia and Africa: Southern and Eastern Europe, and on through Turkish, Arabic, North and East Africa, Persian, Central Asian, and Indic languages. In Europe the tê/chá line is Italian/Slovene, Hungarian/Romanian, German/Czech, Polish/Ukrainian, Baltics/Russian, Finnish/Karelian, Northern Sami/Inari Sami. tê was also borrowed in European trade stops in Southern India and coastal Africa, though chá borrowings are otherwise more prevalent in these regions, via Arabic or Indic, due to earlier trade. The situation in Southeast Asia is complex due to multiple influences, and some languages borrowed both forms, such as Malay teh and ca.
Sense 10 (“information, especially gossip”) is originally from T standing for truth, which evolved into tea.

Sentences

You cannot brew tea in a cold pot .