tea

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A hot drink made by pouring boiling water onto dried leaves.

   Would you like a cup of tea?

2. 2
   noun

   The dried leaves used to make this drink.

   Go to the shop and buy some green tea.

3. 3
   noun

   A light afternoon meal with tea, sandwiches, or cakes.

   We were invited for afternoon tea at four o'clock.

Common collocations

• hot tea Adjective + noun
• drink tea Verb + noun
• make tea Verb + noun
• pour tea Verb + noun
• herbal tea Adjective + noun
• iced tea Adjective + noun
• strong tea Adjective + noun
• brew tea Verb + noun

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),…

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