tea

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See also Tea, and TEA

Contents

[edit] English

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[edit] Etymology

Originally from Min Nan (POJ: dê, Chinese: 茶), the word was brought to the west by the Dutch East India Company with the spelling thee. This is the approximate pronunciation by the Dutch from Cha spoken by Hokkienese in the province of Fujian in China. Many Western languages have this pronunciation at the root of their words for tea. The word for tea in Mandarin, from Cantonese pronunciation, is Cha. This (Yale: cha4) was exported as “chai (from Persian)” to many of the Indo-Iranian languages, as well as Russian and Arabic.

"The World Atlas of Language Structures Online" has a special chapter dedicated to the origin of the word for tea in different languages: [1]

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

tea (countable and uncountable; plural teas)

A cup of tea. (2,3)
  1. (uncountable) The dried leaves or buds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis.
    Go to the supermarket and buy some tea.
  2. (uncountable) The drink made by infusing these dried leaves or buds in hot water.
    Would you like some tea?
  3. (countable) A variety of the tea plant
    Darjeeling is a tea from India.
  4. (uncountable) By extension, any drink made by infusing parts of various other plants.
    camomile tea
  5. (countable, UK, Canada, Australian, New Zealand, Commonwealth of Nations, US, (northern)) A cup of any one of these drinks, often with a small amount of milk or cream added and sweetened with sugar or honey.
  6. (countable, Southern US) A glass of iced tea, typically served with ice cubes and sometimes with a slice or wedge of lemon.
  7. (uncountable, UK) A light meal eaten mid-afternoon, typically with tea.
    Kids, your tea’s on the table!
  8. (uncountable, New Zealand, UK, Australian) The main evening meal, irrespective of whether tea is drunk with it.
    The family were sitting round the table, having their tea.
  9. (cricket) The break in play between the second and third sessions.
    Australia were 490 for 7 at tea on the second day.
  10. (slang, dated) Marijuana.
    • 1946, Mezz Mezzrow and Bernard Wolfe, Really the Blues, Payback Press 1999, p. 74:
      Tea puts a musician in a real masterly sphere, and that's why so many jazzmen have used it.
    • 1947, William Burroughs, letter, 11 Mar 1947:
      Here in Texas possession of tea is a felony calling for 2 years.

[edit] Usage notes

In the United Kingdom, Canada, other English speaking Commonwealth countries, and in northern areas of the United States, tea is assumed to mean hot tea and is usually served in a teapot with separate cups, or sometimes served directly in cups such as for large groups or for takeout.

In southern areas of the United States, tea is assumed to mean iced tea and is usually served with ice, either in a pitcher with separate glasses or directly in glasses.

Strictly speaking, "tea" has been reserved for infusions made from leaves of Camellia sinensis. Infusions made from other herbs such as rooibos, mint, and chamomile are called tisanes. In recent years the word "tea" has been extended to include the herbal infusions.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Derived terms

Derived terms

[edit] Translations

dried leaves of tea plant
drink made from leaves of tea plant
cup of this drink
drink made from other plants
cup of drink made from other plants
light afternoon meal
main evening meal — see dinner
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
  • Esperanto: teo
  • Maori: hapa (one or both of the meal senses)
  • Marathi: चहा
  • Tibetan: ཇ (za)

[edit] Verb

tea (third-person singular simple present teas, present participle teaing, simple past and past participle teaed)

  1. To drink tea
  2. To take afternoon tea (the light meal)

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Galician

[edit] Noun

tea f. (plural teas)

  1. cloth

[edit] Hungarian

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈtɛjɒ/
  • Hyphenation: tea

[edit] Noun

tea (plural teák)

  1. tea

[edit] Declension

declension of tea
singular plural
nominative tea teák
accusative teát teákat
dative teának teáknak
instrumental teával teákkal
causal-final teáért teákért
translative teává teákká
terminative teáig teákig
essive-formal teaként teákként
essive-modal - -
inessive teában teákban
superessive teán teákon
adessive teánál teáknál
illative teába teákba
sublative teára teákra
allative teához teákhoz
elative teából teákból
delative teáról teákról
ablative teától teáktól
possessives of tea
possessor singular possession plural possession
1st person sing. teám teáim
2nd person sing. teád teáid
3rd person sing. teája teái
1st person plural teánk teáink
2nd person plural teátok teáitok
3rd person plural teájuk teáik

[edit] Derived terms

Compound words

[edit] Maori

[edit] Adjective

tea

  1. white

[edit] Rapa Nui

[edit] Noun

tea

  1. dawn

[edit] Derivatives

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