té

Forms

té m (plural tés)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Hokkien 茶 (tê, “tea”), the form of Amoy and Fujian (the Mandarin form is 茶 (chá)).^[2][3][1][4] Corominas thinks the word passed first into Malay teh and that the Dutch probably took it from there and spread it over most of western Europe, which had French thé by 1664.^[2] Wikcionario derives it from Dutch thee, from Malay.^[5] The DLE has it come through French, and Vox calls it an 18th-century loan spread in the West by the Dutch.^[6][7] The DHLF dates the French word from 1648, borrowed through Dutch from Malay or a southern Chinese dialect.^[8]

The Mandarin form went overland to the Slavic languages and by sea to Portuguese chá (1565). From Portuguese, Spanish took cha, used in 1610 and 1637 and, according to the Academy in 1780, in New Spain, where it probably arrived from the Philippines.^[2][9] Wiktionary treats this Portuguese-derived form as a doublet.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is the Diccionario de Autoridades of 1739.^[2][3] Terreros later describes a small tree much used in China, Japan and the East Indies, whose names there are cha or teba.^[10] The leaf, gathered in spring, is what Spain calls té.^[10]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word named the shrub, its dried leaf and the drink; the Academy's dictionary of 1843 gives the three senses.^[11] Salvá in 1846 adds juego de té “tea set”.^[12] The name was soon given to European plants used for infusions: Domínguez records té de Europa for speedwell and té de Francia for sage.^[13] Today té borde, té de España or té de Europa is the epazote.^[13][6] In the Canaries té de Canaria was a species of Sida.^[14] Té de los jesuitas or del Paraguay is the yerba mate.^[15]

In Argentina the word was extended to any infusion of herbs in hot water, so that tea itself is called un té de té; there and elsewhere in the Americas it also means an afternoon snack.^[2] Mexico used it for a decoction of any plant by 1895.^[16] In Chile the té was a light evening meal ending with a cup of tea.^[17] DAMER records the sense “any infusion” from Mexico to Uruguay.^[18] Spanish lent the word to Navajo dééh and Tewa tây.^[1]

Timeline

• 1565 – Portuguese chá, from the Mandarin form.^[2]
• 1610 – Spanish cha, taken from Portuguese.^[2]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records té.^[2][3]
• 1780 – the Academy notes cha as the word of New Spain.^[2][19]
• 1786–1793 – Terreros describes the tree and gives the eastern names cha and teba.^[10]
• 1817 – tetera “teapot” appears in the Academy's dictionary.^[2][3]
• 1843 – the Academy defines the shrub, the leaf and the drink.^[11]
• 1895 – Ramos records té in Mexico for a decoction of any plant.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. The tea plant, an evergreen shrub of the Far East (Camellia sinensis) with leathery toothed leaves and white flowers.^[6][1]
2. The dried, rolled and lightly roasted leaves of this shrub.^[6]
3. The infusion made from these leaves: ¿Te apetece un té con limón?^[6][1]
4. An afternoon gathering at which a light meal including tea is served.^[6][15]
5. (Latin America) Any herbal infusion: un té de canela.^[6][18]

Word family

• tetera
• teína

Related words

• cha
• Portuguese chá
• Dutch thee

Usage notes

The plural is tés;^[1][20] teses is recorded in Puerto Rico.^[1][20] Dar el té means “to bore someone with tedious talk”.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 444
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. té
4. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 674
5. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. té
7. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. té
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. cha
10. ^ a b c Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 593
11. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 691
12. ^ Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 1036
13. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1620
14. ^ Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. té
15. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. té
16. ^ a b Ramos y Duarte, Félix (1895), Diccionario de mejicanismos, México: Imprenta de Eduardo Dublán, p. 472
17. ^ Román, Manuel Antonio (1901–1918), Diccionario de chilenismos y de otras voces y locuciones viciosas, 5 vols., Santiago de Chile: Imprenta de San José, p. 421
18. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. té
19. ^ Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. té
20. ^ a b Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. té