tea: [17] English acquired tea via Dutch thee and Malay teh from te, the word for ‘tea’ in the Amoy dialect of Chinese, from southeast China (the Mandarin Chinese version of the word is chá, from which English got cha [17]). It was originally pronounced /tay/ as well as /tee/, but it was the latter which eventually won out. => cha
tea (n.)
1650s, tay, also in early spellings thea, tey, tee and at first pronounced so as to rhyme with obey; the modern pronunciation predominates from mid-18c. But earlier in English as chaa (1590s), also cha, tcha, chia, cia. The two forms of the word reflect two paths of transmission: chaa is from Portuguese cha, attested in Portuguese from 1550s, via Macao, from Mandarin (Chinese) ch'a (cf chai). The later form, which became Modern English tea, is via Dutch, from Malay teh and directly from Chinese (Amoy dialect) t'e, which corresponds to Mandarin ch'a.
The distribution of the different forms of the word in Europe reflects the spread of use of the beverage. The modern English form, along with French thé, Spanish te, German Tee, etc., derive via Dutch thee from the Amoy form, reflecting the role of the Dutch as the chief importers of the leaves (through the Dutch East India Company, from 1610). Meanwhile, Russian chai, Persian cha, Greek tsai, Arabic shay, and Turkish çay all came overland from the Mandarin form.
First known in Paris 1635, the practice of drinking tea was first introduced to England 1644. Meaning "afternoon meal at which tea is served" is from 1738. Slang meaning "marijuana" (which sometimes was brewed in hot water) is attested from 1935, felt as obsolete by late 1960s. Tea ball is from 1895.
双语例句
1. I'll make the tea and you pop off for a while.
我来备茶，你去歇一会儿吧。
来自柯林斯例句
2. America imports about 190 million pounds of tea a year.
美国每年进口大约1.9亿磅茶叶。
来自柯林斯例句
3. At tea-time, Victoria sang duets with her Consort, Prince Albert.
喝下午茶的时候，维多利亚与其夫君艾伯特亲王表演了二重唱。
来自柯林斯例句
4. While he was gone she had tea with the Colonel.
