English Online Dictionary. What means tea? What does tea mean?
English
Etymology 1
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.
Sense 10 (“information, especially gossip”) is originally from T standing for truth, which evolved into tea.
Alternative forms
- tay
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: tē, IPA(key): /tiː/, [tʰiː]
- (General American) enPR: tē, IPA(key): /ti/, [tʰi]
- Homophones: T, te, tee, ti
- Rhymes: -iː
Noun
tea (countable and uncountable, plural teas)
- (uncountable) The tea plant (Camellia sinensis); (countable) a variety of this plant.
- (uncountable) The dried leaves or buds of the tea plant; (countable) a variety of such leaves.
- (uncountable) The drink made by infusing these dried leaves or buds in hot water.
- Any drink which is similar to Camellia sinensis tea in some way:
- (uncountable) Any similar drink made by infusing parts of various other plants.
- Hyponym: herbal tea
- (uncountable, in combination) Meat stock served as a hot drink.
- (uncountable) Any similar drink made by infusing parts of various other plants.
- (countable, Commonwealth, northern US) A cup or (East Asia, Southern US) glass of any of these drinks, often with milk, sugar, lemon, and/or tapioca pearls.
- (uncountable, UK) A light midafternoon meal, typically but not necessarily including tea.
- (uncountable, Commonwealth, Ireland) Synonym of supper, the main evening meal, whether or not it includes tea.
- (cricket) The break in play between the second and third sessions.
- (slang, dated) Synonym of marijuana.
- 1947 March 11, William Burroughs, letter:
- Here in Texas possession of tea is a felony calling for 2 years.
- (slang, especially gay slang and African-American Vernacular) Information, especially gossip.
Usage notes
- In most places tea is assumed to mean hot tea, while in the southern United States, it is assumed to mean iced tea.
Synonyms
- (plant): tea plant, tea tree, tea bush
- (leaves): tea leaves
- (beverage): see Thesaurus:tea
- (beverages similar to tea): herb tea, herbal tea, infusion, tisane
- (a light meal): see afternoon tea & Thesaurus:meal
Hyponyms
- (beverage): see Thesaurus:tea
Derived terms
Descendants
- Gullah: tea
- Jamaican Creole: tea
- → Abenaki: ti
- → Chickasaw: tii'
- → Cocopa: ṭi·
- → Cornish: té
- → Cree:
- Canadian syllabic script: ᑎᕀ (tiy)
- Latin script: tiy
- → Inuktitut: ᑏ (tii)
- → Irish: tae
- → Maori: tī
- → Malecite-Passamaquoddy: ti
- → Mikasuki: ti'g'tlo'q, ji'gitlo'q (“kettle”) (from "tea kettle")
- → Panamint: tii
- → Scottish Gaelic: tì, teatha
- → Tamil: டீ (ṭī)
- → Tashelhit: atay
- → Telugu: టీ (ṭī)
- → Unami: ti
- → Welsh: te
Translations
Verb
tea (third-person singular simple present teas, present participle teaing, simple past and past participle teaed or tea'd or tead)
- (intransitive) To drink tea.
- (intransitive) To take afternoon tea (a light meal).
- (transitive) To give tea to.
Etymology 2
Semantic loan from Chinese 茶 (chá, “tea”).
Noun
tea (plural teas)
- A moment, a historical unit of time from China, about the amount of time needed to quickly drink a traditional cup of tea. It is now found in Chinese-language historical fiction.
Usage notes
This term is found in English translations of Chinese-language historical fiction, where it is used to give the work an ancient Chinese feel.
References
Anagrams
- eta, æt., -ate, eat, AET, aet, a.e.t., ETA, aet., ate, Até, eta., Atë
Basque
Noun
tea
- absolutive singular of te
Chinese
Etymology
From English tea.
Pronunciation
Noun
tea
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) afternoon tea (Classifier: 個／个 c)
Derived terms
Ese
Noun
tea
- feces; excrement
Estonian
Verb
tea
- present indicative connegative of teadma
- second-person singular imperative of teadma
Galician
Etymology 1
From Old Galician-Portuguese tea (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin tēla. Cognate with Portuguese teia and Spanish tela.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtea̝/
Noun
tea f (plural teas)
- (uncountable) cloth
- (countable) a piece of cloth
- spiderweb
- Synonym: arañeira
- canvas
- Synonym: lenzo
- film (skin)
- Synonym: película
Derived terms
- tear
Etymology 2
From Old Galician-Portuguese tea (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin taeda, from Ancient Greek δάος (dáos, “torch”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtea̝/
Noun
tea f (plural teas)
- torch
- Synonyms: facha, fachuzo
References
- Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “tea”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- “tea” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
- Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “tea”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “tea”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “tea”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
Hungarian
Etymology
From Dutch thee, from Hokkien 茶 (tê, “tea”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈtɛɒ], [ˈtɛjɒ]
- Hyphenation: tea
- Rhymes: -ɒ, -jɒ
Noun
tea (countable and uncountable, plural teák)
- tea
Declension
Derived terms
Further reading
- tea in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
Anagrams
- Eta
Maori
Etymology
From Proto-Polynesian *tea. Compare Hawaiian kea and Rapa Nui tea tea.
Adjective
tea
- white
- Synonym: mā
- light-coloured
- clear, transparent
Derived terms
- Aotearoa
- Ao-tea-roa
Old English
Numeral
tea
- (Northumbrian) Alternative form of tīen
Rapa Nui
Noun
tea
- dawn
Derived terms
- tea tea
Sedang
Noun
tea
- water
- body of water: river, lake, etc
- liquid
- wine
References
- Kenneth D. Smith, Sedang Dictionary (2012), page 375
Spanish
Alternative forms
- teda (rare)
Etymology
Inherited from Latin tēda, early monophthongized variant of Latin taeda (“torch”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈtea/ [ˈt̪e.a]
- Rhymes: -ea
- Syllabification: te‧a
Noun
tea f (plural teas)
- torch (a stick with a flame on one end, used chiefly as a light source)
- Synonym: antorcha
- (colloquial) intoxication, drunkenness
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:borrachera
Further reading
- “tea”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10