Etymologically
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coffee

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈkɒf.i/, US /ˈkɑː.fi/[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Dutch koffie,[2][3][4] from Ottoman Turkish kahveh,[2][5][6] from Arabic قهوة (qahwa, “coffee”),[2][5][7][6] which Arab etymologists connected with a word meaning “wine”.[2][6][5] Etymonline suggests it may rather come from the Kaffa region of Ethiopia, a home of the plant.[2] Two forms of the word came into European languages about 1600: one with a, as French café, Italian caffè and German Kaffee, and one with o, as English coffee, Dutch koffie and Russian kofe.[5] The American Heritage Dictionary explains coffee as Italian caffè with the vowel of the Middle Eastern word.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The drink: 1598, in the form chaoua,[5][9][6] with the spelling coffe from 1601[5][8] and coffa from 1603–30.[5] Early forms such as chaoua, cahve and kauhi reflect the Arabic and Turkish words.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The first coffee house in Mecca dates to the 1510s, and coffee was in Turkey by the 1530s.[2] It reached Europe about 1515–19 and England by 1650;[2] by 1675 England had more than 3,000 coffee houses and coffee had replaced beer at breakfast, though its use declined in the 18th century with cheaper tea.[2] In the American colonies the tax on tea kept coffee popular.[2] The seeds are called coffee from 1626, and the shrub from 1623.[9] A light meal at which coffee is served is from 1774,[2][9] and the colour from 1815.[2][9] Coffee house is from 1615, coffee-pot from 1705[5] and coffee shop from 1838,[2] and coffee break from 1952, first in advertisements of the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.[2]

Timeline

  • 1598 – the drink, as chaoua.[5][9]
  • 1601 – the spelling coffe.[5]
  • 1615 – coffee house.[5]
  • 1623 – the shrub.[9]
  • 1626 – the seeds.[9]
  • 1774 – a light meal with coffee.[2][9]
  • 1815 – the colour.[2]
  • 1952 – coffee break.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A drink made from the roasted and ground seeds of a tropical shrub.
  2. The seeds of this plant, whole or ground; the shrub itself, of the genus Coffea.
  3. A cup of this drink; a gathering at which it is served.
  4. A light or medium brown colour.
  • caffeine
  • kaffeeklatsch
  • café
  • cafeteria

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Nişanyan, Sevan, Nişanyan Sözlük: Çağdaş Türkçenin Etimolojisi (online edition)
  8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press