tea
n. · v.-
1 the drink (n.) A1 Beginnera drink made by pouring hot water over dried leaves.
a beverage made by infusing the dried leaves or buds of the Camellia sinensis plant in hot water.
ExampleShe likes to drink green tea with a little bit of honey in the morning.
ExampleThe host served a delicate oolong tea, carefully monitoring the water temperature to avoid scorching the leaves.
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2 afternoon snack (n.) B1 Intermediate British Englisha light meal eaten in the late afternoon, usually with tea and cake.
a light midafternoon social meal, typically consisting of tea, sandwiches, and pastries.
ExampleWe decided to have tea at a small café near the park at four o'clock.
ExampleThe hotel offers a traditional high tea service, complete with clotted cream, strawberry jam, and a selection of finger sandwiches.
- afternoon tea
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3 evening meal (n.) B1 Intermediate British English Dialectthe main meal of the day, eaten in the early evening.
the primary evening meal, often used as a synonym for supper or dinner in certain regional dialects.
ExampleThe kids are hungry, so I need to start cooking tea now.
ExampleIn many working-class households in the North of England, 'tea' refers to the substantial meal served when the family returns from work.
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4 gossip (n.) B2 Upper Intermediate Slang Informalinteresting information or secrets about someone's private life.
information, specifically juicy or scandalous gossip.
ExampleCall me later because I have some major tea to spill about our old boss.
ExampleSocial media influencers often gain followers by promising to spill the tea on recent industry dramas and private disagreements.
UsageCommonly used in the phrase 'spill the tea'.
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5 to drink tea (v.) C1 Advanced Formal British Englishto drink tea or to have a light meal with tea.
to consume tea or to participate in the social ritual of afternoon tea.
ExampleThey spent the afternoon teaing and talking about their summer holidays.
ExampleThe ladies were found teaing in the drawing room when the unexpected guest arrived at the estate.
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 an affricate (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. Etymology 1 sense 11 (“information, especially gossip”) may be originally from T standing for truth, which evolved into tea. An alternative explanation dates back to gay African-American culture in the 1970s and alludes to women gossiping over afternoon tea.
Semantic loan from Chinese 茶 (chá, “tea”).