Etymologically
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tè

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Pronunciation

Forms

tè m (invariable)[1] Also spelled the and thè, less commonly; regionally pronounced té.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Hokkien 茶 (tê, “tea”), the word of the Min dialect of Amoy (Xiamen), the port facing Taiwan; it is a variant of Chinese 茶 (chá).[5][6][7] Devoto–Oli, Sabatini–Coletti and Treccani bring it through French thé, and Wiktionary gives the chain French, from Dutch thee, from Hokkien.[2][3][4][1] DELI quotes Migliorini: of the competing names, which go back to different Chinese dialects, the one with /t/ won, helped by French.[5] The spelling with ⟨th⟩ imitates French, and Nocentini explains the ⟨h⟩ as a mark of the aspiration of Chinese voiceless stops.[6][8]

Italian first had the other form: chiai in Ramusio (1583) and cià in Carletti (before 1606), who wrote that the Japanese call a certain leaf of theirs by both names.[5] The Amoy form spread to Spanish té, German Tee and English tea, while the form with /tʃ/ is continued by Portuguese chá, Modern Greek τσάι (tsái) and Russian чай (čaj).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the travel account of Francesco Carletti (before 1606), as the name of a Japanese leaf.[5][7] The drink is first named in 1668 by Lorenzo Magalotti, and in 1685 Francesco Redi wrote of “a much-used drink among the noble people of China and Japan”.[5][9]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century the plant was called erba tè “tea herb”, and the GDLI quotes doctors praising it for the stomach.[5][10] The forms tè and thè stand side by side in Gherardini's supplement of 1857.[5] Magalotti boasted that he had invented teiera “teapot” on the model of sorbettiera, cioccolatiera and caffettiera;[5] DELI thinks he was the first to bring it into Italian, translating French théière.[5]

The sense “afternoon party at which tea is served” is recorded in 1970.[5] The tè danzante, an afternoon dance, is a calque of French thé dansant.[5] The name is also given to several unrelated plants and to the infusions made from them.[7]

Timeline

  • 1583 – Ramusio writes the form chiai.[5]
  • 1589 – French thé is recorded.[7]
  • Before 1606 – Francesco Carletti names the leaf cià or the.[5][7]
  • 1668 – Lorenzo Magalotti uses it for the drink.[5]
  • 1685 – Redi names il tè beside chocolate in his Bacco in Toscana.[5]
  • 1711 – Magalotti uses teiera.[5]
  • 1888 – Theina appears in the title of a medical study.[5]
  • 1970 – The sense “tea party” is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The tea plant (Camellia sinensis), an evergreen shrub of eastern Asia with toothed leaves and white flowers: In Sri Lanka abbiamo visitato le colline coperte di tè.[7][2][3]
  2. The dried, processed leaves of this plant: Ho comprato una scatola di tè verde.[7][2][11]
  3. The drink made by steeping these leaves in boiling water: Vuoi un tè con il limone?[7][2][4]
  4. An afternoon reception at which tea is served: La contessa ci ha invitati a un tè.[7][3][11]
  5. A name for various other plants, their dried leaves, and the herbal tea made from them.[7]

Word family

  • teiera
  • teina
  • teicoltura

Usage notes

DELI has a separate popular interjection tè “here, take it!” (1348–1353, Boccaccio), a reduction of the imperative of Latin tene (“hold!”); the GDLI records a tè imitating the sound of a trumpet.[5][8] A casa da tè is a Japanese teahouse, and a sala da tè a tea room, modelled on English tea room.[4][11] The noun is invariable: due tè.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  3. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 20, 781
  9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  11. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli