Assam

Of unclear origin, but generally agreed to be related to Ahom. More at Etymology of Assam on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

pedia

A state in northeastern India. Capital: Dispur.

(historical) The former realm it was named after.


Assam

He took the cup in both hands and sipped. It was their favourite blend of Assam, dark and heady and strong.

2022, R. F. Kuang, Babel, HarperVoyager, page 360:

Ellipsis of Assam tea: tea from or similar to that grown in Assam; any tea made from the broad-leaf Assam variety of tea (C. sinensis var. assamica).


drawing

en-noun

drawing (countable and uncountable, plural drawings)

From Middle English drauing, drawing, equivalent to draw + -ing.

Such acts practiced as a graphic art form.


draw

en-verb

draw (third-person singular simple present draws, present participle drawing, simple past drew, past participle drawn or (colloquial and nonstandard) drew)

draws (present singular third-person)
drawing (participle present)
drew (past)
drawn (participle past)
drew (colloquial nonstandard participle past)
draw (infinitive)

From Middle English drawen, draȝen, dragen (“to drag, pull, push, draw (out), go to, make, add, etc.”), from Old English dragan, from Proto-West Germanic *dragan, from Proto-Germanic *draganą, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to draw, pull”). Doublet of drag and draught.
cognates
* Albanian dredh (“to turn, spin”)
* Danish drage
* Dutch dragen
* German tragen (“to carry”)
* Old Armenian դառնամ (daṙnam, “to turn”)
* Sanskrit ध्रजस् (dhrájas, “gliding course or motion”)
* West Frisian drage

snímat

cardgames: to take the top card of a deck into hand

every miller draws water to his own mill

one hair of a woman can draw more than a hundred pair of oxen

"There's your tay set for you an' drawin' nicely this minute, Miss Ethel," called old Bridget from the hall.

1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 207:

She made a pot of very strong tea, and while she was waiting for it to draw she opened the kitchen door to inspect her garden.

1984, Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac, Penguin, published 2016, page 119:

Tea is much nicer if you let it draw for more than two minutes before pouring.

(intransitive, transitive) To steep; to leave (tea) temporarily in water to allow the flavour to increase.

vyluhovávat

of drinks: to leave temporarily so as to allow the flavour to increase


brew

From Middle English brewen, from Old English brēowan, from Proto-West Germanic *breuwan, from Proto-Germanic *brewwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁-. Doublet of burn.
Cognate with
Dutch brouwen, German brauen, Swedish brygga, Norwegian Bokmål brygge; also Ancient Greek φρέαρ (phréar, “well”), Latin fervēre (“to be hot; to burn; to boil”), Old Irish bruth (“violent, boiling heat”), Sanskrit भुर्वन् (bhurván, “motion of water”). It may be related to English barley

Landlady: You're not stoppin' for a brew?
Gene Hunt: No thanks, love. Better crack on.

2007 March 6, Julie Rutterford, Life on Mars, Season 2, Episode 3:

The mixture formed by brewing; that which is brewed; a brewage, such as tea or beer.


still

en-adj

still (comparative stiller or more still, superlative stillest or most still)

stiller (comparative)
more still (comparative)
stillest (superlative)
most still (superlative)

From Middle English stille (“motionless, stationary”), from Old English stille (“still, quiet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stillī, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)telH- (“to be silent; to be still”). Cognate with Scots stil (“still”), Saterland Frisian stil (“motionless, calm, quiet”), West Frisian stil (“quiet, still”), Dutch stil (“quiet, silent, still”), Low German still (“quiet, still”), German still (“still, quiet, tranquil, silent”), Swedish stilla (“quiet, silent, peaceful”), Icelandic stilltur (“set, quiet, calm, still”). Related to stall.
(noun: Falkland Islander): Military slang, short for still a Benny, since the military had been instructed not to refer to the islanders by the derogatory term Benny (which see).

cog

l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand

To follow the still President’s marching orders, all that Secretary Ronnie Puno has to do is to follow the road map laid out by Justice Azcuna in his “separate” opinion.

2007 January 3, Gerry Geronimo, “Unwanted weed starts to sprout from a wayward ponencia”, in Manila Standard, archived from the original on 2011-07-19:

(not comparable) Having the same stated quality continuously from a past time

застоял

having the same stated quality continuously from a past time


still

Via Middle English [Term?], ultimately from Latin stilla.

(catering) A large water boiler used to make tea and coffee.

A building where liquors are distilled; a distillery.


tea cosy

en-noun

tea cosy (plural tea cosies or tea cozies)

She had just finished knitting a tea cosy decorated with a floral pattern.

(British) An insulating cloth covering, shaped to fit over a teapot to maintain warmth.


tea leaf

(usually used in the plural) A dried fragment of a leaf of the tea plant used in making the drink tea.


tea

en-verb

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

teas (present singular third-person)
teaing (participle present)
teaed (participle past)
teaed (past)
tea'd (participle past)
tea'd (past)
tead (participle past)
tead (past)

Amoy
Amoy dialect
Dutch East India Company
Macao
Álvaro Semedo

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.

The wind was high and the hills ditto, and both being against us we were late in reaching Hitchin (30 from Cambridge), so giving up the idea of reaching Oxford we toiled on through Luton, on to Dunstable (47), where we teaed moderately […]

1877, The Bicycling Times and Tourist's Gazette, page 38:

(intransitive) To take afternoon tea (a light meal).


tea

Semantic loan from Chinese 茶 (chá, “tea”).

sl

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.


latte

en-noun

latte (countable and uncountable, plural lattes)

Abbreviation of caffè latte, from Italian caffè (“coffee”) + latte (“milk”), from Latin lac, lactis.

A similar drink, where the espresso is replaced with some other flavoring ingredient such as chai, maté or matcha (green tea).


teaspoon

A unit of measure, equivalent to one-third of a tablespoon or roughly five milliliters.


chai

chai (usually uncountable, plural chais)

From Hindustani चाय / چائے (cāy, “tea”), from Classical Persian چَای (čāy) (and Turkish çay, and cognates) from Sinitic 茶 (chá). Doublet of tea; see that page for extended history.

‘So much for making chai,ʼ she teases, but lets him do the rest of the work. He adds the tea leaves to the boiling milk, then strains the liquid into cups.

2023, Santanu Bhattacharya, One Small Voice, Fig Tree, page 350:

Ellipsis of masala chai, a beverage made with black teas, steamed milk and sweet spices, based loosely on Indian recipes.


tea caddy

Mrs. Hone would have owned all the equipage that most upper-middle-class households needed to hold a proper tea, including a tea table (or teapoy), a tray, a teapot, creamer, sugar bowl with tongs, cups, saucers, tea caddy, teaspoons, and likely a tea urn, slop bowl, strainer, and spoon tray. While availing herself of Carneses' tea and one of their tea caddies, she might also have purchased and utilized one of their teapoys.

2019, Nancy E. Davis, “Afong Moy Presents Chinese Objects for the Home”, in The Chinese Lady: Afong Moy in Early America, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, part II (The Show), page 107:

A box, jar, pot, or tin used to store tea leaves.


camomile

camomile (countable and uncountable, plural camomiles)

From Middle English camamille, first attested 1265, from Old French camomille, from Late Latin camomilla, from Latin chamaemelon, from Ancient Greek χαμαίμηλον (khamaímēlon, literally “earth-apple”), from χαμαί (khamaí, “on the ground”) + μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”). So called because of the apple-like scent of the plant.

der

Matricaria recutita
Matricaria recutita#Translingual

Composite plant with a fragrance reminiscent of apples:

Matricaria recutita (formerly known as Matricaria chamomilla), German chamomile or Hungarian chamomile, with fragrant flowers used for tea, and as an herbal remedy.

Chamaemelum nobile
Chamaemelum nobile#Translingual

Chamaemelum nobile (formerly Anthemis nobilis), English chamomile or Roman chamomile, a ground cover with fragrant foliage.

On another occasion, when trying to brainstorm things I could do to make myself feel better despite all the pandemic restrictions, Woebot suggested I “try doing something nice for someone in your life,” like make a calming tea for my housemate or check in with a loved one. I poured my mum some chamomile: Two birds, one stone.

2022 September 27, Barclay Bram, “My Therapist, the Robot”, in The New York Times:


teakettle

→ Jersey Norman: ticl'ye

→ Welsh: tegell

Phœbe and the fire that boiled the teakettle were equally bright, cheerful, and efficient, in their respective offices.

1851 April 9, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House of the Seven Gables, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields:

“Such a cunning teakettle and saucepan, and a tete-a-tete set, and lots of good things to eat. Do have toast for tea, Polly, and let me make it with the new toasting fork; it's such fun to play cook.”

1869–1870, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter VIII, in An Old-Fashioned Girl, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1870, →OCLC:

(dated outside US) A vessel used to boil water for tea or other hot beverages.


kettle

→ Brunei Malay: kitil

→ Persian: کتری (ketri)

→ Bengali: কেটলি (keṭli)

→ Hindi: केतली (ketlī)

→ Gujarati: કીટલી (kīṭlī)

→ Irish: citeal

→ Maltese: kitla

→ Zulu: igedlela

From Middle English ketel, also chetel, from Old English ċietel (“kettle, cauldron”) and in Middle English possibly influenced by Old Norse ketill and both from Proto-Germanic *katilaz (“kettle, bucket, vessel”), of uncertain origin and formation. Usually regarded as a borrowing of Late Latin catīllus (“small bowl”), diminutive of Latin catinus (“deep bowl, vessel for cooking up or serving food”), however, the word may be Germanic confused with the Latin: compare Old English cete (“cooking pot”), Old High German chezzi (“a kettle, dish, bowl”), Icelandic kati, ketla (“a small boat”). Cognate with West Frisian tsjettel (“kettle”), Dutch ketel (“kettle”), German Kessel (“kettle”), Swedish kittel (“cauldron”), Swedish kittel (“kettle”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (katils, “kettle”), Finnish kattila, Polish kocioł (“cauldron”), Czech kotel (“boiler”), Russian котёл (kotjól, “boiler, cauldron”).

cog

Stick the kettle on and we'll have a nice cup of tea.

A vessel or appliance used to boil water for the preparation of hot beverages and other foodstuffs.


billy

Uncertain, but probably extracted from Scots billypot (“a type of cooking pot”), perhaps originally from the name Billy, a diminutive of William.
The condom sense from the E-Rotic song Willy, Use a Billy... Boy, referring in turn to Billy Boy, a German brand of condoms.

Let's get the billy and cook some beans.

We had been absent from civilisation, so long, that our tin billies, the only boiling utensils we had, got completely worn or burnt out at the bottoms, and as the boilings for glue and oil must still go on, what were we to do with billies with no bottoms?

1889, Ernest Giles, Australia Twice Traversed, published 2004, page 239:

Oh there once was a swagman camped in the billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he looked at the old billy boiling,
'Who'll come a'waltzing Matilda, with me.'

1895, “Waltzing Matilda”, Banjo Paterson (lyrics):

Mother prepared a splendid picnic. […] Rugs, food and the black billy for making tea, were packed into the old baby buggy and we trundled it straight down Simcoe Street.

1942, Emily Carr, “Loyalty”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:

Over the fence, in a shallow gully 100 metres away, this guy and his wife were living on the dirt in the open weather with just a blanket, billies, a dog and a transistor radio. They didn't even have water.

2011, Rod Moss, The Hard Light of Day: An Artist's Story of Friendships in Arrernte Country, unnumbered page:

(Australia, New Zealand) A tin with a swing handle used to boil tea over an open fire; a billycan; a billypot.

kēna

A billycan, a small pot for heating water over a fire


caddy

An alteration of catty (“(unit of) weight used in China, equivalent to 1⅓ pounds avoirdupois (about 0.605 kilograms)”), borrowed from Malay kati (“weight used in China, Indonesia, and Japan”), from Tamil கட்டி (kaṭṭi, “measure of weight; clod, lump”), from கட்டு (kaṭṭu, “to coagulate, congeal, or consolidate (into a concretion); to harden”).

der

The Carneses imported lacquer teapoys in sets. These sets could be easily stacked in a corner of the drawing room and brought out at teatime to hold a teacup, a set, or a caddy. The Carneses purchased lacquered teapoys sets for four dollars in China and probably sold them for twice that amount in America.

(also attributively) A small box or tin (can) with a lid for holding dried tea leaves used to brew tea.


cuppa

Contraction of cup of (with “tea” or sometimes “coffee” implied). See also a (“of”), pinta (“pint of milk”).

I’ve just put the kettle on – fancy a cuppa?

[…] we covered the hundred yards to the lawn where the tea table awaited us. […] Only Bobbie was present when we arrived at the trough. Wilbert and Phyllis were presumably still in the leafy glade, and Mrs Cream, Bobbie said, worked in her room every afternoon on her new spine-freezer and seldom knocked off for a cuppa.

1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter III:

1992, Machine Knitting Monthly, Maidenhead: Machine Knitting Monthly Ltd.,
Back home safely, I made a cuppa and sat for a good hour revelling in my favourite magazine.

‘Here,’ said Clancy as he sat up and dangled his legs over the edge of the bed, ‘You sit down and take it easy. I′ll boil the billy for a cuppa’.

2007, Kevin Hallewell, Woop Woop, page 35:

2017 Mrs. S. "Guillotines Decide" Orphan Black
Get Kira up. I'll pour you a cuppa.

(UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) A cup of tea (or sometimes any hot drink).


essiac

From the surname of the inventor, Rene Caisse, spelled backwards.

A herbal infusion claimed by some to be able to cure cancer.


steep

en-adj

steep (comparative steeper, superlative steepest)

steeper (comparative)
steepest (superlative)

From Middle English steep, from Old English stēap (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *staupaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- (“to push, stick”).
Compare Old Frisian stāp ("high, towering"; > Modern Saterland Frisian stiep (“steep”)), Dutch stoop (“grand; proud”), Middle High German stouf (“towering cliff, precipice”), Middle High German stief (“steep”)). The Proto-Indo-European root (and related) has many and varied descendants, including English stub; compare also Scots stap (“to strike, to forcibly insert”).
The sense of “sharp slope” is attested circa 1200; the sense “expensive” is attested US 1856.

gl

"high, towering"; > Modern Saterland Frisian <i class="Latn mention" lang="stq">stiep</i> (“steep”)

cog

Her ears and thoughts in steep amaze erected

1596, George Chapman, De Guiana, carmen Epicum:

(obsolete) Difficult to access; not easy reached; lofty; elevated; high.


steep

en-verb

steep (third-person singular simple present steeps, present participle steeping, simple past and past participle steeped)

steeps (present singular third-person)
steeping (participle present)
steeped (participle past)
steeped (past)

From Middle English stepen, from Old Norse steypa (“to make stoop, cast down, pour out, cast (metal)”), from Proto-Germanic *staupijaną (“to tumble, make tumble, plunge”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewb- (“to push, hit”). Cognate with Danish støbe (“cast (metal)”), Norwegian støpe, støype, Swedish stöpa (“to found, cast (metal)”), Old English stūpian (“to stoop, bend the back, slope”). Related to stoop.

cog

They steep skins in a tanning solution to create leather.

The tea is steeping.

In refreshing dews to steep / The little, trembling flowers.

1820, William Wordsworth, Composed at Cora Linn, in sight of Wallace's Tower:

(transitive, middle voice) To soak or wet thoroughly.

To make tea (or other beverage) by placing leaves in hot water.


Rosy Lee

I'll put the kettle on and make us a cup of Rosy Lee.

Seated at our map-covered dining table, Vicks and I drank umpteen cups of Rosy Lee as we worked out the best route to take me across seven provinces in Canada and through twenty-six US states, following the coastline as much as possible.

2016, Chris Graham, Five Minutes of Amazing: My Journey Through Dementia, London: Sphere, →ISBN, page 10:


high tea

en-noun

high tea (countable and uncountable, plural high teas)


teabag

He put a spoon and teabag on the saucer and placed it before Mr. McManus.

1980, Walter Stovall, The Minus Pool, page 10:

A cloth or paper sachet containing tea leaves or herbal tea, designed to act as an infuser when submerged in hot water.


caddie

The noun is borrowed from Scots caddie (“military cadet; young man; ragamuffin; person engaged to run errands; person hired to assist a golfer”), from French cadet (“army cadet; younger sibling”), from capdet (“captain; chief”) (Gascony, archaic), from Late Latin capitettum, from Latin caput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“head”). Doublet of cadel, cadet, capital, capitellum, caudillo, and Kadet.
The verb is derived from the noun.

doublet

A tattered cadie, or errand porter, whom David Deans had jostled in his attempt to extricate himself from the vicinity of the scorners, exclaimed in a strong north-country tone, "Ta de'il ding out her Cameronian een—what gi'es her titles to dunch gentlemans about?"

1818 July 25, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter IX, in Tales of My Landlord, Second Series, […] (The Heart of Mid-Lothian), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Company, →OCLC, page 222:

There would be a prosperity such as might seem fabulous, a prosperity of which every Scotchman, from the peer to the cadie, would partake.

1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XXIV, in Lady Trevelyan (Hannah More Macaulay), editor, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume V, London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, →OCLC, page 209:

(by extension, historical) A person engaged to run errands such as carrying goods and messages; a commissionaire, an errand boy or errand girl, a gofer; specifically, a member of an organized group of such persons working in large Scottish cities and towns in the early 18th century.

As caddy I had to carry the clubs, for there are four varieties almost everyone used, and some used more. Besides doing this, the caddy has to keep score of the number of strokes used, and watch and find each ball.

1897 (date written), Paul T. B. Ward, quotee, “19th Hole: The Readers Take Over”, in Sports Illustrated, volume 19, number 4, Chicago, Ill.: Time Inc., published 22 July 1963, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 60:

Then Carter Chapman picked out his putter, stepped confidently up to the ball, sighted once along the ground, and made his stroke. The ball rolled straight as a die toward the caddy who was holding the flag, and tinkled into the cup for a birdie three!

1921 March, Octavus Roy Cohen, “Follow Through”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LXXII, number 2, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], →OCLC, page 370, column 1:

(by extension, golf, also attributively) A person hired to assist a golfer by carrying their golf clubs and providing advice.


caddie

en-verb

caddie (third-person singular simple present caddies, present participle caddying or caddieing, simple past and past participle caddied)

caddies (present singular third-person)
caddying (participle present)
caddieing (participle present)
caddied (participle past)
caddied (past)

We took turns caddying, one caddying, two playing. We went out across the river to the teeing ground of the first hole.

The next day the thirty-two qualifying players were paired off into sixteen sets of opponents. Charlotte was matched against a girl from California. After the first few minutes, the result was never in doubt. "Take it easy, miss," said the highly gratified Mr. Ogilvie, who was caddying for Charlotte. "You hold her in the hollow of your hand."

1917 July, George Weston, chapter VI, in The Apple-tree Girl: The Story of Little Miss Moses, who Led Herself into the Promised Land, Philadelphia, Pa., London: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, published 1918, →OCLC, page 100:

The scheme had been, if I remember, that after lunch I should go off and caddy for Honoria on a shopping tour down Regent Street; but when she got up and started collecting me and the rest of her things, Aunt Agatha stopped her.

1923 May 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Introducing Claude and Eustace”, in The Inimitable Jeeves, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1979, →ISBN, page 63:

(intransitive, golf) Chiefly followed by for: to serve as a caddie (noun sense 2) for a golfer.


tea towel

From tea + towel. Attested from the middle 19th century. Compare earlier tea-cloth from the late 18th century.

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A cloth, made from cotton or linen, for drying dishes and glassware.


Devonshire tea

Synonym of cream tea, specifically as traditionally served in Devonshire.


caffeine

en-noun

caffeine (usually uncountable, plural caffeines)

From French caféine, from café (“coffee”), or German Caffein, Kaffein (cp. Coffein, Koffein), from Kaffee (“coffee”) (cp. Kaffe, Koffee, Koffe), or Italian caffè (“coffee”) + -ine.

central nervous system
central nervous system

An alkaloid, C₈H₁₀N₄O₂, found naturally in tea and coffee plants, which acts as a mild stimulant on the central nervous system.

kafeinë

alkaloid found naturally in tea and coffee plants


tea-bag

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-tea-bag.wav

The old lady had a pile of tea-bags, quarter pounds of butter, cheese, in a bag under the bed.

1990, Iain Crichton Smith, “The Old Woman, the Baby and Terry”, in Selected Stories, Manchester: Carcanet Press, →ISBN, page 144:

There was a table in the corner with an urn of hot water on it, and a bowl of tea-bags.

1991, Frank Ronan, A Picnic in Eden, London: Sceptre, published 1992, →ISBN, book 2, pages 114–115:

She put a tea-bag into a mug and poured on boiling water. He slid off her suit jacket and she stirred her tea-bag gently and then threw it in the bin.

1999, Susan Sallis, chapter 7, in The Keys to the Garden, London: Bantam Press, →ISBN, page 105:


tea-bag

en-verb

tea-bag (third-person singular simple present tea-bags, present participle tea-bagging, simple past and past participle tea-bagged)

tea-bags (present singular third-person)
tea-bagging (participle present)
tea-bagged (participle past)
tea-bagged (past)

(chiefly water sports) To dunk into the sea or another body of water


fanning

Generally orthodox teas have four grades, namely whole leaf, broken leaf, fannings and dust.

2013, Victor R. Preedy, Tea in Health and Disease Prevention:


urn

From Middle English urne, from Old French urne, from Latin urna (“vessel”). Doublet of urna.

(botany) A hollow body shaped like an urn, in which the spores of mosses are contained; a spore case; a theca.


stew

en-noun

stew (usually uncountable, plural stews)

→ Japanese: シチュー (shichū)

From Middle English stewe, stue, from Anglo-Norman estouve, Old French estuve (“bath, bathhouse”) (modern French étuve), from Medieval Latin stupha, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Vulgar Latin *extufāre, from ex- + Ancient Greek τῦφος (tûphos, “smoke, steam”), from τύφω (túphō, “to smoke”). See also Italian stufare, Portuguese estufar. Compare also Old English stuf-bæþ (“a hot-air bath, vapour bath”); see stove.

cog

It was used as a stew, so that the inhabitants of the castle could have fish on Fridays, and for this reason the architects had been careful not to let the drains and sewers run into it. It was stocked with fish every year.

1958, T[erence] H[anbury] White, chapter V, in The Once and Future King, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam's Sons, →ISBN, book I (The Sword in the Stone):

(Sussex) A pool in which fish are kept in preparation for eating.


all the tea in China

Because of the large amount of tea in China, and its value.

I wouldn't trade you away for all the tea in China.

KIRK: Ha, ha, ha. Okay, the truth. I am from what, on your calendar, would be the late twenty-third century. I've come back in time to bring two humpback whales with me in an attempt to repopulate the species.
GILLIAN: Well, why didn't you just say so? I mean, why all the coy disguises?
KIRK: You want the details?
GILLIAN: Oh! I wouldn't miss this for all the tea in China.

1986, William Shatner, Catherine Hicks, 1:07:18 from the start, in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Paramount Pictures, →OCLC:

(idiomatic, hyperbolic) Something very valuable or priceless.

a világ minden kincséért

FOR all the tea…; it's not commonly used otherwise


sweeten

en-verb

sweeten (third-person singular simple present sweetens, present participle sweetening, simple past and past participle sweetened)

sweetens (present singular third-person)
sweetening (participle present)
sweetened (participle past)
sweetened (past)

sour

antonym(s) of “to make warm and fertile”

From sweet + -en. Eclipsed and superseded non-native Middle English doucen and endoucen, borrowed from Old French adoucir and endoucir (“to sweeten”).

to sweeten rooms or apartments that have been infected

to sweeten the air

(transitive) To make pure and healthful by destroying noxious matter.


decaf

en-noun

decaf (countable and uncountable, plural decafs)

(informal) A decaffeinated coffee, tea, or soft drink.

ко́фе без кофеи́на

чай, напи́ток


billypot

Scottish, from 19th century. The Australian usage is sometimes claimed to be related to billabong.

(Australia) A billycan used to boil tea.


tasseography

A macaronic blend of French tasse (“cup”) and -graphy (“writing”).

Tasseography can be a very accurate means of seeing the patterns and choices playing out in your life.

2008, Colette Baron-Reid, Messages From Spirit: The Extraordinary Power of Oracles, Omens, and Signs, page 145:

Another activity option is tasseography—the art of reading tea leaves.

2008, Sabrina Hill, Joni Russell, The Everything Baby Shower Book: Throw a Memorable Event for Mother-to-Be, page 125:

Although tasseography is commonly associated with Gypsy fortunetellers, the tradition of tea-leaf reading arose independently in Asia, the Middle East, and Ancient Greece. Modern tasseography has also been associated with the Scottish, Irish, and cultures of Eastern Europe.

2011, Maureen Hancock, The Medium Next Door: Adventures of a Real-Life Ghost Whisperer, page 15:

Divination with tea leaves or coffee grounds.


tea tray

Jingling in with the tea-tray, she absolutely trod on him. And exclaimed indignantly, "Jasper, you wicked dog, you nearly upset me."

1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 145:


tea service

A set of matching crockery for serving tea; normally a teapot, cups, saucers and small plates etc.; some of which may be silver.


tea room

Alternative form of tearoom: a cafe or a public lavatory.


tea cloth

From tea + cloth; originally designating a cloth for wiping tea service items after washing, later a small tablecloth useful for afternoon tea. Attested from the late 18th century. Compare later tea towel.


teatime

teatime (countable and uncountable, plural teatimes)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-teatime.wav

In the end, it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn't cope with, and that terrible listlessness which starts to set in at about 2:55, when you know that you've had all the baths you can usefully have that day, that however hard you stare at any given paragraph in the papers you will never actually read it, or use the revolutionary new pruning technique it describes, and that as you stare at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o'clock, and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul.

1988, Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul:

(chiefly British) The traditional time, in the late afternoon, for serving tea (the meal).

teetyd

a time specifically for the serving of tea


teapoy

→ Bengali: টিপাই (ṭipai)

→ Kannada: ಟೀಪಾಯಿ (ṭīpāyi)

PIE word
 *tréyes
Borrowed from Hindi तिपाई (tipāī), Urdu تپائی (tipāi, “teapoy”), from a merger of Sanskrit त्रिपाद (tripāda, “tripod”) + Classical Persian سه پای (sih-pāy, “tripod”), with the spelling of the first element influenced by association with tea. Sanskrit त्रि (tri, “three”), the first element of त्रिपाद (tripāda), is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”); while Classical Persian پای (pây, “foot”), the second element of سه پای, is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds (“foot”), from *ped- (“to step; to walk; to fall; to stumble”). Doublet of tripod and tripus.

ref

From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York, USA.

der

The teapoy, derived from the Hindi/Persian phrase denoting a three-footed table, supported a tea set or tea-related objects. Not all teapoys were tripod-like tables or sold singly. The Carneses imported lacquer teapoys in sets. These sets could be easily stacked in a corner of the drawing room and brought out at teatime to hold a teacup, a set, or a caddy. The Carneses purchased lacquered teapoys sets for four dollars in China and probably sold them for twice that amount in America.

2019, Nancy E. Davis, “Afong Moy Presents Chinese Objects for the Home”, in The Chinese Lady: Afong Moy in Early America, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, part II (The Show), pages 107–108:

(originally India) Originally, a three-legged decorative stand or table; now, especially, one with recesses for holding tea caddies and/or a tea service.

টিপাই

three-legged decorative stand or table; especially, one with recesses for holding tea caddies and/or a tea service


tearoom

From tea + room. In reference to a lavatory, probably as a variant of t-room (“toilet room”).

I'm deathly afraid of the tearooms though, John. Some of my best friends have been entrapped and busted by the fuzz.

1973, chapter II, in Deep Dick, page 21:

I had run into Grant in a tea-room—The busy main floor crapper—a few months earlier.

1975, chapter III, in Hard-Headed Dick, page 39:

The euphemistically named "tea room" has been used in sexual subcultures among men who have sex with men (MSM) to describe public sex environments, usually public toilets, where men meet other men in sexual interaction... The term itself might be outdated...

2014, A Cultural Encyclopedia of the Penis, page 216:

(euphemistic, slang) A public lavatory, especially (US, gay slang, dated) as a meeting place for gay men.


tea bag

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-tea bag.wav

Making a cup of tea wasn’t an easy task in this household. The kettle had been taken away by the hard-faced men, and the family were too poor to afford tea bags or milk.

2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], “All Bag and No Tea”, in Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN, page 99:


tea bag

en-verb

tea bag (third-person singular simple present tea bags, present participle tea bagging, simple past and past participle tea bagged)

tea bags (present singular third-person)
tea bagging (participle present)
tea bagged (participle past)
tea bagged (past)


tea party

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-tea party.wav

On January 23, MTR Elizabeth Line held an office-based tea party at which colleagues were encouraged to donate home-baked goods. It provided staff with an opportunity to take time out of their busy schedules and reminded everyone to take care of their mental health and wellbeing.

2020 July 1, “Case Studies: Brew Monday”, in Rail, page 59:

A semi-formal afternoon social gathering at which tea, sandwiches and cakes are served.

A type of imaginative playing in which children gather with each other or their dolls to mimic having a real tea party or other formal meal, often without any food at all.

Trials marked by strife, belligerent behaviour, unwarranted personal attacks, and other forms of disruptive and discourteous conduct are antithetical to the peaceful and orderly resolution of disputes we strive to achieve. By the same token, trials are not — nor are they meant to be — tea parties. […] Care must be taken to ensure that free expression, resolute advocacy and the right of an accused to make full answer and defence are not sacrificed at the altar of civility.

2018 June 1, Michael Moldaver, “Groia v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2018 SCC 27”, in CanLII, retrieved 2021-04-17:

(figuratively) An interaction characterized by a high degree of courtesy, delicacy, deference, and avoidance of conflict.


teacup

"There isn't wind enough to capsize a tea-cup in a gutter," said Rasmus, and shifted his chew of tobacco with a little black chalk pipe, while he looked around him on all sides.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 182:

A small cup, usually with a handle, commonly used for drinking tea; normally sits in a saucer as part of a tea set.


be mother

be mother (no third-person singular simple present, present participle being mother, no simple past, past participle been mother)

being mother (participle present)
been mother (participle past)

Pouring tea is traditionally the mother's role in a family setting.

Ah, here are the cakes and tea; shall I be mother?

They went to a cafe and had afternoon tea.
'Shall l be mother?' Marcus said, lifting a utilitarian brown teapot, all cosied up in something that looked like a bobble hat.

2009, Kate Atkinson, When Will There Be Good News?, page 277:

'Be mother, will you, Charity? Teile and Letizia have a watered-down version.'
So they had a pleasant tea, although Charity kept an anxious eye on the clock, keen not to outstay her welcome.

(idiomatic, British) To pour out tea for others.


cup of tea

Would you be a dear and get me a cup of tea, please?

In the heady days of 1970, the national average wage was about £6,200 in today's money, but a cup of BR tea was within everyone's reach at 9d (2020 value: 55p) until it suddenly went up to 11p (2020: 70p). (The 2020 price would relate to 11d, not 11p; decimalisation took place in 1971.)

2020 April 8, Howard Johnston, “East-ended? When the ECML was a risk”, in RAIL, pages 65–66:

"We know the impact talking and listening can have. A cup of tea and a chat won't solve everything, but it can be a start.

2022 January 26, “Network News: Samaritans Brew Monday returns to station concourses”, in RAIL, number 949, page 25:

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cup, tea. A cup or mug with tea in it.


licorice root

en-noun

licorice root (countable and uncountable, plural licorice roots)

Any of several other species of plants whose roots have a similar aroma and taste.

Ligusticum canbyi (Canby's licorice root)


tisane

From Anglo-Norman tysanne, Middle French ptisane, tisane (“barley water, medicinal drink”), and their source, Latin tisana, variant of ptisana, from Ancient Greek πτισάνη (ptisánē, “peeled barley, barley gruel”), from πτίσσειν (ptíssein, “to peel, to crush”).

der

Ptisan. A diluent drink which makes a great figure in the dietetic precepts of the ancients.

1831, Alexander Macaulay, A dictionary of medicine, designed for popular use, 2nd edition, page 454:

Towards the end of the week the girls complained of violent headaches and restless nights; and before Monday it was very obvious that they were all in a high fever. Tuesday Isabella was delirious, and Mademoiselle Virginie sent the maid to Covent Garden to buy some herbs, which, she said, would form a sovereign tisane.

1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 57:

“Neither,” said Poirot, “I shall go to bed and take a tisane. The expected has happened […].”

1928, Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train:

The sick people would take away also some herbs for their ptisan, some wine and other comforts […].

1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society, published 2010, page 5:

As soon as he had opened the door he worked his way back to his high-backed Queen Anne armchair, where he picked up his bone-china cup and took a sip of a rarefied tisane.

A medicinal drink, originally made from barley soaked in water.


cream tea

en-noun

cream tea (countable and uncountable, plural cream teas)

He scanned the next set of pictures and noticed that she was either on her own or with people who were considerably older than her. ‘Bingo,’ said Winters. ‘Ballroom dancing with another woman. Eating cream tea in the parochial club. Watching paint dry in the church hall. And there I was thinking ET was the only image system that could make me want to cry.’

2018, Mark Roberts, Killing Time, Head of Zeus Ltd, →ISBN:

(UK) An afternoon tea including cream tea and, usually, scones and jam.


herb tea

Soaking camomile leaves in hot water for five minutes produces a very relaxing herb tea.

A beverage (a tisane) made by steeping herbs (sometimes also includes other plants, such as spices), other than tea leaves, in hot water. Technically not a tea because it does not contain tea leaves.


mint tea

mint tea (countable and uncountable, plural mint teas)

An herb tea made by steeping leaves of plants of the mint family in hot water.


tea plant

Camellia sinensis
Camellia sinensis#Translingual

The bush Camellia sinensis, the leaves of which are picked, dried and used to make the beverage tea.


oolong tea

oolong tea (countable and uncountable, plural oolong teas)

Borrowed from Mandarin 烏龍茶／乌龙茶 (wūlóngchá), from 烏龍／乌龙 (wūlóng, “black dragon”) + 茶 (chá, “tea”).

bor+

A type of tea with a taste in between green tea and black tea.


tea strainer

A strainer used to filter loose tea leaves from brewed tea.


spearmint

en-noun

spearmint (countable and uncountable, plural spearmints)

From spear (“sprout of a plant, spire”) + mint, so named due to its spiry blooms.

af

Mentha spicata
Mentha spicata#Translingual

A herb of the mint family (Mentha spicata), commonly used in herb tea, candy and to treat mild stomach ache.


decaffeinated

From which caffeine has been removed (e.g. decaffeinated coffee).


black tea

en-noun

black tea (countable and uncountable, plural black teas)

Tea leaves which have been "fermented" (actually, oxidized) before drying to enhance their flavour (cf. green tea).

(British) A cup of tea served without milk.


peppermint

peppermint (countable and uncountable, plural peppermints)

→ French: paparmane

→ Japanese: ペパーミント (pepāminto)

→ Korean: 페퍼민트 (pepeominteu)

In the hissing flames, Greenhill and Travers boiled the bark from peppermint gums and roasted their kangaroo-skin jackets.

2004, Nicholas Shakespeare, In Tasmania, Harvill Press, p. 76

(Australia) Any of various eucalypts of southeastern Australia whose leaves yield peppermint-like essential oils.


green tea

green tea (countable and uncountable, plural green teas)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-green tea.wav

A beverage brewed from green tea leaves.


kombucha

kombucha (countable and uncountable, plural kombuchas)

Origin disputed. Possibly from Japanese 昆布茶 (konbucha, literally “kelp (konbu) tea”), a different type of beverage, and not related to fermentation.
Alternatively, derived from Kombu, reportedly a Korean physician who brought the fermented tea to Japan as a curative for Emperor Inkyo in 414 CE + cha (“tea”).

unk

disputed

bor

Kombucha is the primary focus of this book and arguably the most popular home ferment and aforementioned store-bought probiotic drink.

2020, Chad Turner, The Joy of Home Brewing Kombucha, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

A fermentation of sweetened tea of Mongolian origin.

紅茶キノコ (kōcha kinoko, literally “tea mushroom”)

ча́йный гриб m (čájnyj grib, literally “tea mushroom”)

ча́йний гриб m (čájnyj hryb, literally “tea mushroom”)


teahouse

(euphemistic) a public lavatory, particularly (dated US gay slang) as a meeting place for gay men.

tetera

a public lavatory particularly as a meeting place for gay men


cha

From Chinese 茶 (chá), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-la, via two routes: in some cases from Hindustani चा (cā) / چا (cā) (a variant of the same root, from Persian چا, which led to chai), from Northern Chinese; in other cases from 茶 (chá) /t͡sʰɑː²¹/, the pronunciation found in Canton (Guangzhou), where the British bought much of their tea in the 19th century. Doublet of tea, which is from the Amoy Min Nan pronunciation tê.

Would you like a cup of cha?

[Krazy Kat, bringing a full tray:] Look, folkses – hot dogs, hot cha, hot peppa pots, hot timollies – hot kuffy. ^([sic])

1934 August 4, George Herriman, Krazy Kat, Saturday, comic strip, →ISBN, page 206:

tea, sometimes (dialect) specifically masala chai


herbal tea

en-noun

herbal tea (countable and uncountable, plural herbal teas)

Coordinate term: tea

A beverage made by infusing mainly the leaves (and sometimes the flowers, roots, or stems) of various herbs or other plants, generally not including true tea (Camellia sinensis).


tempest in a teapot

tempest in a teapot (plural tempests in teapots)

The media frenzy over the actor's drunken behavior was a tempest in a teapot.

(idiomatic) A major fuss over a trivial matter.

زوبعة في فنجان (zōbaʕa fi finjān, literally “storm in a cup”)

סערה בכוס תה f (se'ará bechós te, literally “storm in a cup of tea”)

бу́ря в стака́не воды́ f (búrja v stakáne vodý, literally “storm in a glass of water”)


rooibos

Borrowed from Afrikaans rooibos, from Dutch rooi (“red”) + bosch (“bush”).

The air is aromatic with buchu (Rutaceae), pines, rooibos (Aspalathus linearis), and, of course, the cedars for which these mountains are named.

1980, Panoramic South Africa, Johannesburg: Central News Agency, →ISBN, page 41:

Love it or hate it, rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) is as much a part of this region as rock art, velskoen and stunning spring flowers.

2006, Karena Du Plessis, Vanessa Cowling, West Coast: Landscape, People, Food, Texture, Cape Town: Struik, →ISBN:

Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis, Fabaceae) is a plant that is indigenous only to the Cedarburg Mountain Range near Cape Town, South Africa. Wilson (2005, p140) notes that the mountain-dwelling people of the Khoikhoi were the first to use rooibos as a tea and, had it not been for them, rooibos would probably simply have remained an unutilized bush. The name ‘rooibos’ is an Afrikaans word meaning red bush for which the plant has been commonly known since at least the 1960s and probably back to the 1940s, and which is perceived as part of the country's heritage (Cheney and Scholtz, 1963).

2010, Daniel F. Robinson, “Non-patent Biopiracy Cases”, in Confronting Biopiracy: Challenges, Cases and International Debates, London, Washington, D.C.: Earthscan, →ISBN, page 89:

(South Africa) A shrub (Aspalathus linearis) from which a tisane (herbal tea) is made.

The respondent obtained the registration of a trade mark for bush tea, one essential particular of which was the name of "Rooibosch" tea. Before the registration the same kind of tea had been known by several names one of them being Red bush tea, or in Dutch "Roodebosch" tea, and the appellants had sold similar tea under that appellation.

1909 October 28, “Heatlie Bros. and Others vs. Hartley”, in “Cape Times” Law Reports: A Record of Every Matter Disposed of in the Supreme Court, volume 19, Cape Town: Cape Times, published 1910, →OCLC, page 954:

During the past twenty years or so farmers in the Cedarberg region, from Citrusdal to Nieuwoudtville, have raised the rooibos tea industry from obscurity to minor boom.

1967, Commercial Opinion, volume 45, Cape Town: Association of Chambers of Commerce of South Africa, →OCLC, page 19:

Antioxidants are hot topics in the health news these days, and an herbal tea called rooibos (pronounced ROY-boss) is becoming popular partly because it is being marketed as a healthy beverage with high levels of antioxidants. The rooibos plant (Aspalathus linearis (Burm. f.) Dahlgren, Fabaceae) is a South African flowering shrub used to make a mild-tasting tea that has no caffeine, very little tannin, and significant amounts of polyphenol antioxidants.

2003, Laurie Erickson, “Rooibos Tea: Research into Antioxidant and Antimutagenic Properties”, in HerbalGram: The Journal of the American Botanical Council, number 59, archived from the original on 2009-08-10, page 34:

When brewed, rooibos is a stunning orange-red color.

2006, Travis Arndorfer, Kristine Hansen, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Coffee and Tea, New York, N.Y.: Alpha Books, →ISBN, page 232:

The tisane (herbal tea) made from this plant.

The crest of the rim and the upper portion of both the outer and inner slopes are covered with a fairly thick growth of Rooibosch (Combretum holosericeum), and Bastard Rooibosch (Combretum apiculatum), accompanied by Dichrostachys nutans, Grewia occidentales, and isolated examples of Marula (Sclerocarya caffra) and Tambootie (Exoecaria africana); […]

1922, W[ilfrid] J[ohn] Wybergh, The Coal Resources of Union of South Africa (Union of South Africa, Department of Mines and Industries, Geological Survey. Memoir; no. 19), volumes I (The Coalfields of Witbank, Springs, and Heidelberg and of the Orange Free State), Pretoria: Government Printing and Stationery Office, →OCLC, page 163:

Where the Hakdoorn (Acacia litakunensis Burch) and the Soetdoorn (Acacia Karoo) grow as the dominant trees we often find our sweetest pastures; and where Rooibos (Combretum holosericium and C. Zeyheri Sond), Sering (Burkea africana), wilde kweper (Androstachys Johnsonii), boekenhout (Faurea sagligna), and suikerbos (Protea abyssinica) grow, we more often have our poorest pastures of good value only in the early spring.

1932, A[ndrew] M[urray] Bosman, Cattle Farming in South Africa (South African Agricultural Series; 10), [Johannesburg]: Central News Agency, →OCLC, page 267:

Bush Willow (Rooibos) (Combretum apiculatum). Rooibos occurs in most parts of the ranching areas of the northern, north-western and north-eastern Transvaal.

1942, Farming in South Africa, volume 17, Pretoria: Department of Agricultural Technical Services and Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 234:

Thornveld (Acacia karroo) and Rooibos (Combretum apiculatum) veld.

1957, Rhodesia Agricultural Journal, volume 54, Salisbury [Harare]: Minister of Agriculture & Land, →OCLC, page 414:

(South Africa) Various shrubs of the genus Combretum.


camomile tea

camomile tea (countable and uncountable, plural camomile teas)

A beverage made by infusing the leaves of the camomile plant (either Matricaria recutita or Chamaemelum nobile) in hot water.


tea-urn

But as I continued to advance, the noise increased, and became like the hissing of an enormous tea-urn.

An urn or pot, with a gravity-fed tap at the bottom, used to hold hot water, hot tea or hot coffee.

taechoire

urn or pot for holding hot water, tea or coffee


skiff

→ Russian: скиф (skif)

From Middle English skif, from Middle French esquif, from Old Italian schifo (“small boat”), from Lombardic skif (“boat”), from Proto-Germanic *skipą (“boat, ship”). Doublet of ship.

Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern.

I went alone into a Shepherd's boat,
A skiff that to a willow-tree was tied
Within a rocky cave, its usual home […]

1799, William Wordsworth, The Two-Part Prelude, Book I:

Any of various types of boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person.


skiff

From Scots skiff (“light shower of rain or snow”), from skiff (“move lightly”); compare the derivative skiffle (whence English skiffle) and (English skift (“light dusting of snow”) from) Scots skift (“light shower of snow”), from skift (“move lightly”), perhaps related to shift/Old Norse skipta, or perhaps an onomatopoeic formation.

der

At sunrise there was a slight skiff of ice on some water in a bucket; […]

1877, George Monro Grant, Ocean to Ocean: Sandford Fleming's Expedition Through Canada in 1872, page 131:

There was a light skiff of snow on the ground. The air was filled with flying flakes, which stung his cheeks sharply. A little streak of red was beginning to show in the east, and somewhere, far away, he heard a chicken crow sleepily.

1899, Clara Vawter, Of Such is the Kingdom..., page 72:

Bring a natural-looking touch of snow indoors by using your fingertips to lightly spread White Christmas Snow along the tops of the branches on your Christmas tree. To create a light skiff of snow on a six-foot noble fir, double the recipe.

1999, Sara Perry, Christmastime Treats: Recipes and Crafts for the Whole FamilyA Holiday Celebrations Book, Chronicle Books, →ISBN:

A thick skiff of dust covered the contents of the room and revealed hundreds of tracks made by very large rodents.

2001, Dave Gilham, Hell 7 New York 0, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 53:

It was getting time to start trapping and Hawk was getting anxious. Fall was everywhere from the yellow aspens, to the skiff of ice on the beaver ponds in the morning. Elk could be heard bugling up and down the valley […]

2001, Wayde Bulow, Lure of the Mountains: The Frontier Life of a Mountain Man, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 176:

... the shore of Pontchartrain, dripping blood heavily into the inland sea, and watching as a crystal path hurtled forward across the lake, six feet wide, as thin as the skiff of ice on a basin left in the window on the night of the first freeze of autumn.

2004, Orson Scott Card, The Crystal City: The Tales of Alvin Maker, Tor Books, →ISBN, page 116:

A skiff of new snow coats the ground.

2007, Diane Tullson, The Darwin Expedition, page 64:

When I woke up this morning what did I see? A skiff of snow on the evergreen tree

2011, Albert C. Anderson, Thoughts of an Older Man: Poems as I See Life, page 249:

Otherwise, whenever we woke up to a skiff of fresh snow in the garden, maybe a couple of times in a winter, we would run outside to make snowmen and snow forts, feeling alive in the cool snowy air.

2013, Steve Baldwin, Snow Tales and Powder Trails, page 102:

The next morning the men awoke to find a light skiff of snow on the ground. This event heightened the anxiety of the men in getting things finished on the house in preparation for departure.

2014, Glenn Crumb, Marvin Crumb, Crumbs Along the Trail, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 114:

Later, she'd seen the snow on Saint Lawrence Island, the snow on the Olympics, the powder high in the Cascades, the Brooks Range, the Maine snow, the Rocky Mountain snow, the blowing around high plains snow, the deep snow at her home in Idaho, the hushed snow in the boreal forest of Northern Canada, the sea-driven snow at Prince Ruper and Ketchikan, Nome, Kotzebue, and Valdez, snow in the Arctic adhering to the now vanishing ice, the dry skiff of snow on the Alaskan tundra stitched by the silvery, needle-like oil pipeline.

2014, John Keeble, The Shadows of Owls: A Novel, page 362:

The track was in the snow next to the line of rock brushed clean by the wind playing along the edge. Uriah saw it, too, and he knelt to examine the track. It was huge, five or six inches across, and clear in the skiff of snow.

A thick skiff of snow lay over the world, and the big stars looked down on the weirdly wild scene. A long howl quivered through the night. It was quickly answered by a wild ululation from all directions. A big wolf—a fierce lobo of the Texas frontier—slipped out of the brush […]

2016, Glenn Dromgoole, West Texas Stories, ACU Press, →ISBN:

The hoarfrost was heavy on the willow trees and there was a skiff of snow on the ice surface.

2019 October 30, Judy Kucharuk, “Skating in a winter wonderland”, in Alaska Highway News:

It will grow almost anywhere it can get a toehold; I once saw rye growing in a 0.4-inch (1 cm)-deep skiff of dust on a tractor blade. Farmers call these unplanned plants “volunteers,” and you can sometimes see them […]

2020, Lew Bryson, Whiskey Master Class: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Scotch, Bourbon, Rye, and More, Harvard Common Press, →ISBN, page 57:

A (typically light) dusting of snow or ice (or dust, etc) (on ground, water, trees, etc).


skiff

In the fourth year, "light skiff" pruning removes just the uppermost growth.

2001, Piya Chatterjee, A Time for Tea: Women, Labor, and Post/Colonial Politics on an Indian Plantation, page 173:

The sequence of the 3-year pruning cycle is light pruning; light skiff; and deep skiff[…]

2019, Mirza Hasanuzzaman, Agronomic Crops: Volume 1: Production Technologies, Springer, page 463:

An act of slightly pruning tea bushes, placing new leaves at a convenient height without removing much woody growth.


skiff

en-verb

skiff (third-person singular simple present skiffs, present participle skiffing, simple past and past participle skiffed)

skiffs (present singular third-person)
skiffing (participle present)
skiffed (participle past)
skiffed (past)

Skiffing is the lightest form of pruning involving as it does removal of a certain amount of growth above the previous pruning level.

2016, H. Panda, The Complete Book on Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea (2nd Revised Edition), page 202:

To cut (a tea bush) to maintain the plucking table.


gallic acid

trihydroxybenzoic acid
trihydroxybenzoic acid

(organic chemistry) a phenolic carboxylic acid, 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid, found in galls, tea, the bark of some trees etc; a constituent of tannin


yum cha

A traditional (usually daytime, sometimes nighttime) Chinese meal, consisting of several small courses (dim sum) and Chinese tea.


tea ceremony

A detailed ritual in Japan for preparing, serving and drinking green tea, seen as an expression of Zen Buddhism; also any similar ritual performed in other Asian cultures.

سَادُو

detailed ritual in Japan or Asia for preparing, serving and drinking tea


sugar honey ice tea

Derived from the words chosen so that their initials, in sequential order, spell out shit.


zarf

Likely from Ottoman Turkish ظرف (zarf), from Arabic ظَرْف (ẓarf).

An ornamental container designed to hold a coffee cup and insulate it from the hand of the drinker.


maté

en-noun

maté (countable and uncountable, plural matés)

Borrowed from Spanish mate, from Quechua mati.

Ilex paraguariensis
Ilex paraguariensis#Translingual

(countable) An evergreen tree, Ilex paraguariensis, native to South America, cultivated for its leaves.


whitener

whitener (countable and uncountable, plural whiteners)

(Canada, countable, uncountable) A powder added to tea or coffee in place of milk. A "non-dairy creamer".


digestive biscuit

digestive biscuit (plural digestive biscuits)

The baking soda in the recipe was thought to have antacid properties and thus to aid digestion.

(British, Ireland) A semisweet biscuit; sometimes dunked in tea, or crushed as the base of a cheesecake


pekoe

pekoe (countable and uncountable, plural pekoes)

Unclear; possibly from Hokkien 白毫 (pe̍h-ho, “white hair”) or Hokkien 白花 (pe̍h-hoe, “white flower”). See Tea leaf grading#Etymology. Compare to Russian ба́йховый (bájxovyj).

A high-quality black tea made using young leaves, grown in Sri Lanka, India, Java and the Azores.


tea wagon

(US) A table on wheels used to take food or drinks from the kitchen to the dining-room.

(US, film, slang) An audio mixing console on wheels.


tea trolley

tea trolley (plural tea trolleys or tea trollies)

tea trolleys (plural)
tea trollies (plural)

About this, he is, as ever, humorous and self-deprecating, attributing his employment to the fact that the tea trolley arrived during his interview and “I'd been so well brought-up that I just naturally leaned over and said, ‘Would anyone like a cup of tea?’.[…]”

2001 May 12, Robert Potts, “The poet at play”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(especially Commonwealth) A table on wheels used to take food or drinks from the kitchen to the dining-room, or throughout a workplace for tea break.


gingernut

(UK, slang) A redhead; a ginger-haired person.


Lapsang Souchong

lapsang souchong
lapsang souchong#English

Alternative letter-case form of lapsang souchong


epazote

From Spanish epazote, from Classical Nahuatl epazōtl.

Dysphania ambrosioides
Dysphania ambrosioides#Translingual

A pungent herb used in Latin-American cooking and tea making, and in folk medicine; Dysphania ambrosioides.


storm in a teacup

storm in a teacup (plural storms in teacups)

tempest in a teapot
tempest in a teapot#English


dixie

From Hindi देगची (degcī, “a kettle, a metallic cooking pot”), from Classical Persian دیگچه (degča, “a pot, small cauldron”), from دیگ (deg, “pot”) + ـچه (-ča).

der

four men generally like to mess together, and one cooking pot among them takes the place of a mess-tin or "dixie"

1903, Minutes of Evidence Taken Before the Royal Commission on the War in South Africa, H.M. Stationery Office:

Then from the communication trenches came dixies or iron pots, filled with steaming tea, which had two wooden stakes through their handles, and were carried by two men.

And what those ‘dixies’ of hot tea signified no one knows who wasn't there to wait for them.

1928, Siegfried Sassoon, Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Penguin 2013, page 261:

Army rum is potent stuff, especially when the supplies of tea and water have run out, and one drinks it neat out of a dixie.

1929, Frederic Manning, The Middle Parts of Fortune, Vintage 2014, page 39:

(military) A large iron pot, used in the army.


tea shop

A cafe where tea is served with light (usually sweet) foods.


boba tea

en-noun

boba tea (countable and uncountable, plural boba teas)

It happened when beverage aficionados learned that tapioca, the starch used to make the sweet, round, chewy black bubbles — or pearls — that are the featured topping in the popular boba tea drink, was in short supply.

2021 April 16, Kellen Browning, “Another Unlikely Pandemic Shortage: Boba Tea”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:

A nearby bus depot is a hub for commuters and tempts them to linger with a boba tea shop, a gyro stand and an outdoor cinema.

2023 April 7, Kate Conger, Shawn Hubler, “Stabbing of Cash App Creator Raises Alarm, and Claims of ‘Lawless’ San Francisco”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:


bubble tea

bubble tea (countable and uncountable, plural bubble teas)

Phono-semantic match for boba tea (see that entry for more), ultimately from Cantonese 波霸 (bo1 baa3, “busty woman; tapioca pearl(s)”). The match is from the tapioca pearls' supposed resemblance to bubbles.

der

Sweetened tea with milk and tapioca pearls, often including fruit juice, syrup and other ingredients.


iced tea

en-noun

iced tea (countable and uncountable, plural iced teas)

→ Japanese: アイスティー

(Canada, Philippines) Sweetened iced tea, flavoured with lemon.


orange pekoe

orange pekoe (countable and uncountable, plural orange pekoes)

A high-quality grade of black tea from India and Sri Lanka.


Shui Xian

From Chinese, meaning water nymph or narcissus.

A popular, high grade Chinese oolong tea from the Wuyi Mountains


blister blight

(phytopathology) An infection of tea plants, caused by the fungus Exobasidium vexans, characterized by blister-like lesions on the leaves.


price of tea in China

The price of tea in China was an important topic in England during and around the 19th century. It was often mentioned in the British House of Commons.

Due to the Sino-Indian trade crisis, the price of tea in China has risen dramatically the past fiscal month.

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see price, tea, China.

what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?


sugar cube

Piece of sugar in the shape of a cube (or approximate cube), often used for coffee or tea.

قَنْد

piece of sugar in the shape of a cube — see also cube sugar


tea pad

Took my public-school training in three jails and a plenty of pool-rooms, went to college in a gang of tea-pads, earned my Ph.D. in more creep joints and speakeasies and dancehalls than the law allows.

1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Don’t Cry, Ma”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 3:

(US, slang, obsolete) A hash-bar; a place to buy or smoke marijuana.


teacake

(British) A flat, round bread bun, usually containing currants, sultanas or peel and often served toasted and buttered with tea.


tea set

A set of crockery for making and serving tea (the drink).


hyson

hyson (countable and uncountable, plural hysons)


souchong

souchong (countable and uncountable, plural souchongs)

Borrowed from Cantonese 小種／小种 (siu² zung², “subvariety”).

bor+

Any of several varieties of aromatic black tea from China.


brick-tea

"Some of them were men from Ladakh," said Lalun, when the last had gone. "They brought me brick-tea such as the Russians sell, and a tea-urn from Peshawar."

1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘On the City Wall’, In Black and White, Folio Society, published 2005, page 438:

Tea leaves formed into the shape of a brick, used to make beverages like tea, eaten as food or, as in the past, used as a form of currency.


tea and toaster

en-noun

tea and toaster (plural tea and toasters)

Again, if Father San Browne, tea and toaster to that quaintest of yarnspinners is Padre Don Bruno . . . .

The patients with inadequate diet admitted to ingesting a diet usually devoid of folate-rich food such as liver, kidney, and vegetables other than potatoes. Several probably were "tea and toasters."

1964, B. A. Cooper, L. Lowenstein, “Relative Folate Deficiency of Erythrocytes in Pernicious Anemia and its Correction with Cyanocobalamin,”, in Blood, volume 24, page 505:

Older people with poor dietary habits ("tea and toasters") may develop iron deficiency.

2003, Robert K. Murray et al., Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry, McGraw-Hill, →ISBN, page 586:

(informal, chiefly medicine) A person, usually elderly and frail, with a diet lacking in nutrition.


tasseomancy

From French tasse (“cup”) + -mancy (“divination”).


oolong

oolong (countable and uncountable, plural oolongs)

1850s. From Mandarin 烏龍／乌龙 (wūlóng) / 乌龙 (wūlóng), from 烏／乌 / 乌 (wū, “black”) + 龍／龙 (lóng) / 龙 (lóng, “dragon”)

Flavour and aroma of semi-fermented teas is dictated by the extent of fermentation and, for this reason, oolong has a considerably stronger flavour than pouchong, which undergoes a significantly shorter fermentation.

1994, A. Varnam, J. M. Sutherland, Beverages: Technology, Chemistry and Microbiology, page 187:

A partially fermented tea, often roasted, which combines the characteristics of green tea and black tea.


tea dance

palm court orchestra
palm court orchestra

(dated) A late afternoon or early evening dance, typically with a live orchestra (often referred to as a palm court orchestra) playing light classical music.


teahead

(slang, dated) A habitual marijuana smoker.


looseleaf

Of tea: supplied as whole tea leaves rather than teabags.


rich tea biscuit

rich tea biscuit (plural rich tea biscuits)

A sweet biscuit whose ingredients generally include wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oil, and malt extract, often dunked into tea or coffee.


tea cozy

(Canada, US) Alternative form of tea cosy


red tea

red tea (countable and uncountable, plural red teas)

The “black tea” sense is a calque of Chinese 紅茶／红茶 (hóngchá, literally “red tea”).


matcha

en-noun

matcha (countable and uncountable, plural matchas)

Borrowed from Japanese 抹茶 (matcha), from 抹 (matsu, “to wipe, to rub”) + 茶 (cha, “tea”).

A type of powdered green tea, traditionally used in Japanese tea ceremonies.


tealike

en-adj

tealike (comparative more tealike, superlative most tealike)

more tealike (comparative)
most tealike (superlative)

Resembling tea (the drink or plant) or some aspect of it.


Teabagistan

(US politics, slang) An idealized, rural, conservative version of America, as recalled by Tea Party members.


teamaker

The company's major competitors in teamakers were Cuisinart and T-Fal.

1999, Arthur A Thompson, Alonzo J Strickland, Strategic management: concepts and cases:

A machine that prepares tea (the drink).


tea-time

en-noun

tea-time (countable and uncountable, plural tea-times)

But it's clear that for tea-time trains leaving Manchester, three cars is not enough.

2023 November 1, Philip Haigh, “TPE must choose the right route to a brighter future”, in RAIL, number 995, page 56:


morning tea

morning tea (countable and uncountable, plural morning teas)

1993 December, AUUGN: AUUG Inc. Newsletter, Volume 14, Number 6, page 53,
Thursday usually opens with a keynote session prior to morning tea and then breaks to stream sessions before and after lunch. […] The only thing it doesn′t include is breakfast, and many delegates just wait for our scrumptious morning teas anyway.

2000, Maggie Alderson, Pants On Fire, Penguin Books Australia, unnumbered page,
‘You know what this means, don′t you?’ said Maxine, smiling broadly.
‘No?’ I wondered if I had to pack up my office straight away.
‘You have to buy morning tea.’
‘What?’
‘Morning tea. A cake. A big cake for all of us. […] ’

2004, Coralie Mathews, Healthy Children: A Guide For Child Care, 2nd Edition, Elsevier, Australia, page 187,
He rushes in every day, greeting the staff and other children, and is busy with a variety of activities until morning tea time. He helps pack up the tables that are needed for morning tea and wipes them over before going to wash his hands. Morning tea comes on a trolley and Almeido happily places platters of fresh and dried fruit and individual bowls on each table.

(Australia, New Zealand) A small meal or snack eaten between breakfast and lunch; a period of time set aside for this purpose, taken as a break from schoolwork, work, a conference, etc.

早茶

a light meal or snack taken mid morning after breakfast and before the midday meal


afternoon tea

afternoon tea (countable and uncountable, plural afternoon teas)

Afternoon tea remains at its present price of 4s, but the prices of all other main meals have risen by 1s. Thus a full breakfast now costs 10s, lunch 13s 6d and dinner 14s 6d or 16s 6d according to train.

1964 May, “News and Comment: BR meal prices up again”, in Modern Railways, page 293:

As with luncheon, afternoon tea was often a women's gathering for reasons that take us back to the reign of Charles II.

2007, Andrea Broomfield, Food and Cooking in Victorian England: A History, page 59:

Everyone should indulge in a formal afternoon tea at least once while in London. This relaxing, drawn-out, civilized affair consists of three courses, all elegantly served on fine china: dainty finger sandwiches (with the crusts cut off, of course); then fresh-baked scones served with jam and deliciously decadent clotted cream (the rich, thick cream is also known as Devonshire cream); and lastly, an array of bite-size sweets. All the while, an indulgent server keeps the pot of your choice fresh at hand.

2010, Darwin Porter, Danforth Prince, Frommer's England 2011: With Wales, page 165:

At all the places listed below, it's perfectly acceptable to order one afternoon tea and one cream tea (at about £5) and split the afternoon tea goodies.

2010, Rick Steves, Rick Steves′ England 2011, page 179:

The British tradition of afternoon tea is still observed on the last Friday of each month, from January to August, at the hilltop mansion of the governor-general in Nassau.

2011, Darwin Porter, Frommer's Bahamas 2012, page 67:

(UK) A formal afternoon meal comprising light snacks, accompanied by tea.

After afternoon tea we all combine again for a plenary session, followed by the UniForum NZ AGM.

In looking at meal structures, Douglas (1972) made a clear distinction between the afternoon tea which is a snack and the high tea which is classified as a light meal.

1995, David Marshall, Food Choice and the Consumer, page 270:

(Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong) A small meal or snack eaten between lunch and dinner (supper); a period of time set aside for this purpose, taken as a break from work or from a conference.

下午茶

light meal or snack taken in the mid to late afternoon


Earl Grey

Earl Grey (usually uncountable, plural Earl Greys)

Reputed by to be named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey. A “Grey's Tea” is known from the 1850s, but the first known published references to an “Earl Grey” tea are advertisements by Charlton & Co. of Jermyn Street in London in the 1880s.

I'll hazard I can do more damage on my laptop sitting in my pyjamas before my first cup of Earl Grey than you can do in a year in the field.

2012, Skyfall, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

A blend of black tea flavoured with oil from the rind of the bergamot orange.


yerba maté

(hyperforeign) Alternative form of yerba mate


tippy

en-adj

tippy (comparative tippier, superlative tippiest)

tippier (comparative)
tippiest (superlative)

1790, tip (“apex”) + -y (diminutive). Sense of “clever” may be influenced by tip (“inside information”).

She read Renan's Vie de Jésus, and I am now going to lend her the antidote—a tippy little bit of criticism by Pressensé.

1863, [1910], Early Letters of Marcus Dods, D.D., page 344:

(colloquial or slang) Clever, neat, smart.

Before rolling some planters are in the habit of sifting the leaf through a No. 4 sieve, and manufacturing the small leaf and tips that fall through separately. This will add to the appearance of the tea, by making it more tippy, but unless fancy teas are being made will not pay for the time and trouble incurred.

1886, T.C. Owen, The Tea Planter's Manual, Colombo: A.M. & J. Ferguson, pages 49–50:

Of tea, having a large amount of tips, or leaf buds.


tippy

(Canada, US) Tending to tip or tilt over; unstable.


lapsang souchong

en-noun

lapsang souchong (usually uncountable, plural lapsang souchongs)

From Cantonese Chinese 立山小種／立山小种 (laap6 saan1 siu2 zung2), literally "sub-variety from Mt. Li (Lapu)".

A variety of smoked black tea (Camellia sinensis), originally from the Wuyi region of the Fujian province of southern China.


white tea

white tea (countable and uncountable, plural white teas)


milk tea

milk tea (countable and uncountable, plural milk teas)


as much use as a chocolate teapot

En-au-as much use as a chocolate teapot.ogg


chaiwallah

/ˈtʃaɪˌwɒlə/

/ˈt͡ʃaɪˌwɑlə/

Borrowed from Hindustani چائے والا / चायवाला (cāyvālā); by surface analysis, chai + wallah.


masala chai

masala chai (usually uncountable, plural masala chais)

/məˈsɑːlə ˈtʃaɪ/

Borrowed from Hindi मसाला चाय (masālā cāy) / Urdu مصالہ چای (masālā cāy, literally “spiced/seasoned tea”).

bor

A South Asian beverage of black tea brewed in milk and water and then sweetened with sugar, sometimes with the addition of aromatic herbs and spices.


bohea

en-noun

bohea (countable and uncountable, plural boheas)

Borrowed from Hokkien 武夷 (Bú-î), for the Bohea Hills (Wuyi Mountains) in Fujian, where the tea is grown. Compare French bou.

The breath of the roses, mingled with the fragrant bohea, which stood just made on the little breakfast-table.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 71–72:


builder's tea

builder's tea (usually uncountable, plural builder's teas)

From builder + -'s + tea, from its supposedly being the preferred type of tea of British builders and construction workers.

It has got the lot, this, underneath its hinged awning: eggs any way, sausage, old-fashioned burgers and builders' tea.

2001 March 30, Stephen Moss, “Meals on wheels”, in The Guardian:

I ate a kebab in a Cypriot cafe with the freezing rain spatting in the doorway and I was poured a soup-like cup of builder's tea.

2005, Barbara Bailey, An eccentric marriage: Living with Jim, →ISBN, page 185:

The meal should be taken with milky "builder's tea" steeped strong in the mug.

2008, William Morrow, Beef: The untold story of how milk, meat and muscle shaped the world, →ISBN, page 177:

Armed with a cup of Alison's strong, thick, builder's tea, Mrs Jamal started falteringly into the story she had told countless times to sceptical police officers and lawyers.

2010, M. R. Hall, The Disappeared, →ISBN:

(UK) Black tea, brewed strong and served in a large mug with milk and sugar.


chulan

The fragrant flowers of Chloranthus spicatus (formerly Chloranthus inconspicuus), used in China for perfuming tea.


chanoyu

A traditional Japanese tea ceremony in which matcha is prepared and presented.


Abernethy biscuit

Abernethy biscuit (plural Abernethy biscuits)

Probably named after John Abernethy, English surgeon.

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

A form of digestive biscuit containing caraway seeds.


Oopack

Oopack (countable and uncountable, plural Oopacks)

From romanization of Cantonese 湖北 (wu⁴ bak¹). The black tea is named from the district in China.

Oopacks is a general term covering the teas of Hupeh Province, the word being a derivation of the name Hupeh in the Canton dialect. Because of their similar quality and sale on the Hankow market, teas produced in the Hsiangying, Wuchang, Hanyang, and Hwangchow Districts of Hunan also are known as Oopacks.
Other North China blacks of lesser importance include the following:
Hupeh Province [Oopacks]
Cheongshukai Tai Sar Ping Sienning
Tong Shan Wun Kai Puchi
Yanglotung Packong Kianghan
Yang Low Sa Chang Yang Kiangnan
Soon Young Tsung Yang Sung Yang
Hofong Hangyang
Hunan [Oonams]

1935, William H. Ukers, “Tea Characteristics”, in All About Tea, volume I, New York: The Tea and Coffee Trade Journal Company, →OCLC, pages 228–229:

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909


chai tea

chai tea (countable and uncountable, plural chai teas)


Abyssinian tea

(dated) A stimulant tea infused with the leaves of the khat, or khat itself.


zarph

From Turkish zarf, from Arabic ظَرْف (ẓarf, “dish, container”). See also zarf.

A highly decorated and bejewelled Turkish tea cup.


congou

congou (countable and uncountable, plural congous)

From Chinese 工夫, possibly Hokkien 工夫 (kang-hu). Compare kung fu.


Irish breakfast tea

Irish breakfast tea (countable and uncountable, plural Irish breakfast teas)

A strong blend of black teas, commonly served with milk.


pu-erh

Shortened from pu-erh tea, from the Wade–Giles romanization (properly p‘u-êrh) of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 普洱茶 (pǔ'ěrchá).

Alternative form of pu'er: a kind of tea.


tea chest

(historical) A standardised box, made of plywood with riveted metal corners, used to transport tea to markets.

(by extension) A similar sized box made of cardboard, used for transporting and storing household items.


bed tea

bed tea (countable and uncountable, plural bed teas)

The day was pretty fully taken up by a well-defined routine: 6 a.m. chota-hazri (bed tea and some fruit); seven to eight, riding, bath, then breakfast at nine. . . .

1955, S. K. Kirpalani, Fifty Years with the British, published 1993, →ISBN, page 92:

Bed tea or chota hazari (small breakfast), as we used to know it when I was a child in Calcutta during the last days of the raj, is one of the luxuries of my life in India.

1991, Mark Tully, No Full Stops in India (1992 Penguin edition), (Google preview)

His cap and white gloves were perfect whether he was delivering the bed tea at 8am or bringing me a china hot water bottle just before midnight.

1996 April 13, Justine Hardy, “Travel: That elusive, smart and affordable hotel is only just around the corner”, in The Independent", UK, retrieved 2014-03-24:

You'll be woken each morning with a tray of cookies and ‘bed-tea’, which is made using leaves plucked from the plantations outside your window.

2013 June 6, "India's Top Romantic Resorts: Glenburn Tea, Estate Darjeeling, India Times (retrieved 24 March 2014)

(India, Pakistan) A serving of tea shortly after awakening in the morning.


gunpowder tea

gunpowder tea (countable and uncountable, plural gunpowder teas)

A form of Chinese green tea in which each leaf has been rolled into a small round pellet.


Brown Betty teapot

Brown Betty teapot (plural Brown Betty teapots)

A teapot made from red terracotta clay and covered in Rockingham brown glaze, originally made in Stoke-on-Trent by the Elder Brothers circa 1695.


bo lei

From Cantonese 普洱 (bou2 nei5-2), exhibiting "lazy pronunciation".

"What kind of tea do you prefer? Clayton has bo lei, a Yunnan red, jasmine. . .a rather excellent green."

1999, Stuart Cohen, Invisible World, HarperCollins, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 105:


tea break

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-tea break.wav

(British, Australia) A short break or rest period during the day when a cup of tea or coffee is drunk.

اِسْتِرَاحَة

a short break or rest period during the day when a cup of tea or coffee is drunk


jasmine tea

jasmine tea (usually uncountable, plural jasmine teas)

Tea made from leaves including jasmine blossoms or essence.


Darjeeling

Darjeeling (countable and uncountable, plural Darjeelings)

/dɑ(ɹ)ˈd͡ʒiːlɪŋ/

Borrowed from Nepali दार्जिलिङ (dārjiliṅ), from Tibetan རྡོ་རྗེ་གླིང (rdo rje gling), itself a compound of Tibetan རྡོ་རྗེ (rdo rje, “vajra”) and གླིང (gling, “land”).

der

རྡོ་རྗེ་གླིང

Short for Darjeeling tea: tea from or similar to that from Darjeeling, India.


ice tea

en-noun

ice tea (countable and uncountable, plural ice teas)


hyson skin

(historical) The inferior leaves of hyson green tea.


bancha

Borrowed from Japanese 番茶 (bancha, literally “coarse tea”).

bor

Coordinate term: sencha

Bancha is served at most restaurants in Japan. As soon as customers are seated, a teapot of bancha is brought to the table.

1995, Dawn Campbell, The Tea Book, Pelican Publishing, →ISBN, page 143:


sencha

Borrowed from Japanese 煎茶 (sencha, literally “infused tea”).

And as a 20-something tea-ist opined over a pot of sencha: “When you want to meet friends, coffee is so clichéd and bar booze is so expensive.

2009 March 13, S.S. Fair, “Take Tea and See”, in New York Times:

A form of Japanese green tea made by infusing the processed whole tea leaves in hot water.


kukicha

The current flavors, are, left to right, ginger and kaffir lime; hibiscus and rhubarb; cola with a base of kukicha, a kind of Japanese tea made from twigs and stalks; and Concord grape and thyme.

2008 June 4, Florence Fabricant, “Homemade Sodas Dressed for a Night Out”, in New York Times:

A Japanese tea blend made from stems, stalks, and twigs.


genmaicha

Borrowed from Japanese 玄米茶 (genmaicha, literally “brown rice tea”).

Inside the bus on Sunday afternoon, the woman, Arielle Swernoff, 23, of Williamsburg, and her friend, Patrick Rheaume, 33, of Park Slope, accepted the cups of genmaicha tea offered them and embarked on a discussion that included references to the small towns of western Massachusetts, where Mr. Rheaume once worked, and the story of how he became friends with Ms. Swernoff while sharing a can of beer during a train ride in New Jersey.

2015 November 9, Colin Moynihan, “A Vagabond Teahouse Pours Camaraderie, One Free Cup at a Time”, in New York Times:

A Japanese form of green tea combined with roasted brown rice.

玄米茶

Japanese form of green tea combined with roasted rice


tea card

(UK) A collectible card, like a cigarette card, but distributed in packs of tea.


lapacho

A herbal tea made from the inner bark of the tree Handroanthus impetiginosus.


sweet tea

en-noun

sweet tea (usually uncountable, plural sweet teas)

Sweetened tea, especially (Southern US) iced tea supersaturated with sugar by adding it during or just after boiling the water.


dandelion coffee

An herbal tea made from dandelion roots, used as a substitute for coffee.


butter tea

butter tea (countable and uncountable, plural butter teas)

A traditional drink in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim, made from tea leaves, butter (traditionally from yak milk), water and salt.


gaiwan

From Mandarin 蓋碗／盖碗 (gàiwǎn, literally “lidded bowl”).

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Perhaps the greatest vessel for brewing tea is one of the most simple in construction and design: the gaiwan. In use since at least the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the gaiwan is ubiquitous in Chinese tea culture and consists of only a saucer, a bowl, and a lid.

2015, Joseph Wesley Uhl, The Art and Craft of Tea, Quarry Books, →ISBN, page 83:

A Chinese lidded cup or bowl, used to steep tea, sometimes including a saucer, developed during the Ming dynasty as an improvement upon the (lidless) chawan.


Texas tea

en-noun

Texas tea (countable and uncountable, plural Texas teas)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Texas tea.wav

It gave Mike time to make me some Texas tea.” Martin looked puzzled. “I thought Texas tea was slang for oil.” “It may be. But to Texans like Mike and me, it merely means well-brewed, properly iced tea.”

2005, JoAnna Carl, The Chocolate Mouse Trap: A Chocoholic Mystery, →ISBN:

Kirby paused for a sip of Texas tea, then went on.

2015, Sarah Ockler, The Summer of Chasing Mermaids, →ISBN, page 166:


tea-things

The teapot, cups, saucers, etc. used when serving tea.


flowering tea

flowering tea (usually uncountable, plural flowering teas)

A type of tea originating in China consisting of a bundle of dried tea leaves and one or more dried flowers, made to unfurl decoratively like a blossoming flower when hot water is added to steep it.


gyokuro

Borrowed from Japanese 玉露 (literally “jade dew”).

bor+

The adjacent tea shop will have its own roaster and a counter of copper-topped black stone[…] where guests can choose between rare green varieties such as hojicha and gyokuro.

2020 January 2, Thomas Chatterton Williams, “The Best of Japanese Dining and Design, Under One Parisian Roof”, in The New York Times:

A kind of green tea from Japan, differing from sencha in being grown in the shade.


Maojian

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 毛尖 (máojiān).


fruit tea

en-noun

fruit tea (countable and uncountable, plural fruit teas)

A beverage made from sweet tea, orange juice, lemon, and possibly other fruit juices, originating in Nashville, Tennessee.


rooibos tea

rooibos tea (countable and uncountable, plural rooibos teas)

She departs to make a pot of rooibos tea.

2018, Tsitsi Dangarembga, This Mournable Body, Faber & Faber (2020), page 175:


cowslip tea

cowslip tea (usually uncountable, plural cowslip teas)


pu'er

Shortened from pu'er tea, from the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 普洱茶 (pǔ'ěrchá).

A kind of fermented dark Assam green tea (C. sinensis var. assamica).


Labrador tea

Labrador tea (countable and uncountable, plural Labrador teas)

Labrador tea
Rhododendron subsect. Ledum

Any of three Rhododendron species (R. tomentosum, R. groenlandicum, or R. neoglandulosum).

vaivóras (but this also means Empetrum nigrum and Vaccinium uliginosum)

because these plants are unknown that far south


maocha

Partially processed tea leaves, dried, and lightly roasted to kill enzymes.


pink tea

pink tea (countable and uncountable, plural pink teas)

From pink (“pale red; (rare) fashionable, smart”) + tea (“drink made by infusing dried leaves or buds of the tea plant in hot water; light midafternoon meal”).

compound

Feb. 4, they served a pink''' tea, from which they realized $19.70.

1886 March, L. D. Carhart, “Home Department. [Des Moines Branch.]”, in Mrs. W[illia]m F[airfield] Warren [i.e., Harriet Merrick Warren], editor, The Heathen Woman’s Friend, volume XVII, number 9, Boston, Mass.: Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, →OCLC, page 227, column 1:

Why, Maud, it’s too delightful to be real, and I am so glad I live in Cloverfield, for it’s getting to be altogether a charming place, with its ‘Pink Teas’ and ‘Corn Festivals,’ etc. But now for a very important question, What are you going to wear?

1887 April, L. S. L., “Miss Primington’s ‘Violet Luncheon’”, in Arthur’s Home Magazine, volume LV, Philadelphia, Pa.: T[imothy] S[hay] Arthur & Son, →OCLC, page 411, column 1:

"Why—why—we bring flowers for the pulpit every Sunday, and we have lovely literaries and socials; and we gave a pink tea for missions last spring, and had such a nice time, besides making $25 for the cause," Annie answered, glibly. […] "Oh, Annie, Annie, what weak babes in Christ you are! Don't you know that this is only the mint, anise, and cummin of service? Pink teas and literaries the work of Jesus Christ!"

1897 January 2, K. G. Walker, “Mint, Anise, and Cummin”, in Joseph F. Henry, editor, The Epworth Herald, volume VII, number 32, Chicago, Ill.: Curts & Jennings; New York, N.Y.: Eaton & Mains, →OCLC, page 526, column 1:

“I went to a ‘Pink Tea’ the other day,” said Littleton, “and hereafter ‘brown beer’ will be good enough for me.[…]” […] I clean forgot the point, and stood there before all those stunning girls grinning like—like an idiot at a ‘pink tea.’

1897 August, “Puck” [pseudonym], “His First Pink Tea: Experience of a Non-society Man”, in Current Literature: A Magazine of Record and Review, volume XXII, number 2, New York, N.Y.: The Current Literature Publishing Co. […], →OCLC, page 157:

It is said that the jargon of these women [tea leaf pluckers], when sorting tea, is just about as intelligible and interesting as the conversation at a sewing bee, a fashionable pink tea or a German kaffeeklatsch.

1898 August 2, Julius O. Schlotterbeck, “Second Session. [Tea Culture.]”, in Proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual Meeting of the Michigan State Pharmaceutical Association, Held at Port Huron, August 2, 3, 4, 1898, […], Detroit, Mich.: Michigan State Board of Pharmacy and Pharmacy Law, →OCLC, page 46:

(historical) A fashionable formal tea party or other social gathering; specifically, one organized and attended chiefly by women to discuss matters of suffrage, raise funds for charity, etc.

teekutsut

fashionable formal tea party or other gathering; specifically, one organized and attended chiefly by women


Rosie Lee

I'll put the kettle on and make us a cup of Rosie Lee.

“[…] Nice cup of Rosie Lee?” he asked, using the Cockney tradition of rhyming slang.

2007, Rhys Bowen, Her Royal Spyness, page 203:

Cockney rhyming slang
Cockney rhyming slang


husband's tea

(slang, archaic) Very weak (dilute) tea.


balm tea

Balm tea and water-gruel (favourite modern medical slops) would soon destroy a constitution made up of turtle and port […].

1780, Philip Thicknesse, The Valetudinarian's Bath Guide:

Balm tea is particularly effective when stress has affected the stomach and the digestive organs.

1993, Barbara Theiss, Peter Theiss, The Family Herbal, page 111:

A tisane or herbal tea made from balm, especially from herbs of the genus Melissa.


chocolate teapot

en-noun

chocolate teapot (plural chocolate teapots)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-chocolate teapot.wav


yellow tea

yellow tea (countable and uncountable, plural yellow teas)

A Chinese tea produced in a similar manner to green tea but with the added steps of encasing and steaming the tea leaves, resulting in slower oxidisation and a mellower taste

黄茶

きちゃ, kicha; ホァンチャ, hwancha; ファンチャ, fancha

A slightly oxidised Korean tea, made in a similar way to oolong or black tea but with less oxidisation


Kaisow

Kaisow (countable and uncountable, plural Kaisows)


chai latte

chai latte (countable and uncountable, plural chai lattes)

They sit in their favorite chairs at their favorite tables and hang out with their friends who also don’t like coffee but adore the chai lattes.

2005, Joe Calloway, Indispensable: How to Become the Company That Your Customers Can’t Live Without, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., →ISBN, page 80:

Schuyler put down his earflap hat and took a thoughtful sip of chai latte.

2008, Franklin Habit, “It Itches.” A Stash of Knitting Cartoons, Loveland, Colo.: Interweave Press LLC, →ISBN, page 103, column 2:

Seven and seven million may be very different from each other. But when you compare them to cups of chai latte, volcanoes, light bulbs, and lamas, it’s obvious that seven million and seven belong to the same species. It’s obvious that all numbers share common characteristics.

2012, Howard Bloom, The God Problem: How a Godless Cosmos Creates, Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, →ISBN, page 234:

A hot drink similar to masala chai or caffè latte, made with spiced tea and steamed milk.


podstakannik

podstakannik (plural podstakanniks or podstakanniki)

podstakanniks (plural)
podstakanniki (plural)

Borrowed from Russian подстака́нник (podstakánnik).

bor+

подстака́нник


lemon tea

en-noun

lemon tea (countable and uncountable, plural lemon teas)

Black tea with lemon slices, zest or juice added.


bush tea

bush tea (countable and uncountable, plural bush teas)

Any of a variety of herbal teas, especially rooibos.


wet and warm

Over by the piers a black sea of heads silhouette in the bright rectangle canopied by the upslung front of the tea stall. Cups of wet and warm at fourpence.

1964, quoted in 2014, Ian J. Finch, D. F. Bratchell, E. F. Candlin, General Studies: A First Handbook for Technical Students (page 148)

At least in a short while he'd be back in his warm office with a hot cup of tea. Or at least somebody else's office with a cup of wet and warm.

2015, Geraldine Evans, Asking For It (Rafferty & Llewellyn British Mysteries; 16), unnumbered page:


hojicha

Borrowed from Japanese 焙じ茶 (hōjicha, literally “roasted tea”).

bor+

She likes to add matcha or hojicha to her pastillas de leche, but you can make them straight

2023 May 24, Ligaya Mishan, “The Shortcut to Homemade Milk Candy”, in The New York Times Magazine:

A Japanese green tea that is roasted in a porcelain pot over charcoal.


tea pet

A small figurine made of unglazed zisha clay, over which tea is poured, and which gradually assumes the aroma of the tea that it absorbs.


hyeonmi nokcha

Borrowed from Korean 현미녹차 (hyeonmi nokcha, literally “brown rice tea”).

bor

A Korean form of green tea combined with roasted brown rice.


someone's cup of tea

en-noun

someone's cup of tea (plural not attested)

Daytime television is not my cup of tea.

(idiomatic, singular only) An activity or domain in which someone is interested or skilled in.