tea的词源

英文词源

tea

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.

中文词源

tea：茶

茶树约四千多年前在中国就有所栽培，它原产于我国华南、华中、西南地区和日本。17世纪时，花叶继咖啡之后，则荷兰人传入欧洲。

中国有一种高级红茶，名叫“白毫”，因在叶子长出柔细的白色毫毛时采摘而得名，英语也袭用了这个词的闽南方言，把它写做pekoe。

关于茶叶本身的来历，有一些不同的传说。

有一种传说认为，茶叶是中国古代的一位哲人发现的，一天，这位哲人在野外篝火上煮水时，有几片树叶偶然落进锅内，哲人闻到了香味，饮用了煮叶子的水，从此茶叶就成了人们的一种饮料。

还有一种神话传说，有一个人向褚神许诺九年不眠。但他坚持到第三年，就再也支持不了，不由自主地睡着了。待他醒来，他对自己十分恼丧，于是断然割下自己的眼皮，抛到地上，地上立刻长出一丛美丽的灌木来。他又坚持了两年仍沉得十分想睡，于是采了一把灌木上的叶子放在嘴里嚼了起来，顿时觉得力量倍增，不再倦困了。这种灌木丛就是现在的茶树。

该词的英语词源请访问找单词词源英文版：tea 词源，tea 含义。

tea：茶叶，茶水，茶点

来自马来语 teh,据说是来自厦门闽南语 t'e,原先拼做 chaa,最终来自汉语茶。

tea：茶叶，茶水，茶点

来自马来语 teh,据说是来自厦门闽南语 t'e,原先拼做 chaa,最终来自汉语茶。