Tea sb.

Forms: 7 (9) tay, tey, 7 té, thé, the, 7–8 tee, thea, 7– tea. See also CHA, CHIA. [= F. thé, Sp. te, It. tè, Du. and Ger. thee, Da., Sw. te, mod.L. thea; ad. (perh. through Malay te, teh) Chinese, Amoy dialect t’e, in Fuchau tiä = Mandarin ch’a (in ancient Chinese prob. kia); whence Pg. and obs. Sp. cha, obs. It. cià, Russian chaĭ, Pers., Urdu chã (10th c.), Arab. shãy, Turkish chāy. The Portuguese brought the form cha (which is Cantonese as well as Mandarin) from Macao. This form also passed overland into Russia. The form te (thé) was brought into Europe by the Dutch, prob. from the Malay at Bantam (if not from Formosa, where the Fuhkien or Amoy form was used). The original English pronunciation, sometimes indicated by spelling tay, is found in rhymes down to 1762, and remains in many dialects; but the current is found already in the 17th c., shown in rhymes and by the spelling tee.]

  1.  The leaves of the tea-plant (see 3), usually in a dried and prepared state for making the drink (see 2); first imported into Europe in the 17th century, and now extensively used in various parts of the world.

  According to Meyer, Konversations-Lexikon, the first mention of it in Europe is due to the Portuguese in 1559 (under the name cha); chia is mentioned in Maffei’s Historia Indica in 1588. Under the name te, thee, it was imported by the Dutch from Bantam (where brought by Chinese merchants from Amoy) c. 1610; first known in Paris 1635, in Russia (by way of Tartary) 1638, in England about 1650–5.

[1598.  W. Phillip, trans. Linschoten, I. xxvi. 46/1. The aforesaid warme water is made with the powder of a certaine hearbe called Chaa.]

1655.  trans. Semedo’s Hist. China, I. iii. 19. Chá is a leafe of a tree, about the bignesse of Mirtle; [marg. note] its called also Tay.

c. 1660.  [T. Garway] (title), An Exact Description of the Growth, Quality, and Vertues of the Leaf Tee, alias Tay. Ibid. (c. 1665). These are to give notice that the said Thomas Garway hath Tea to sell from sixteen to fifty shillings the pound.

1667.  Lond. Gaz., No. 206/3. The most considerable Wares being Cinamon, Ebony, Thea, and Camphire.

1667–8.  E. Ind. Co.’s Let., 24. Jan. (Letter Bks. IV. 137). Wee desire you to procure and send us by these ships 100^lb. waight of the best Tey that you can gett.

1676.  Beal, in Phil. Trans., XI. 586. The tops of red Sage in blossom,… dried in the shade,… did excel the famous Thea, the Chinois themselves being Judges.

1680.  Lond. Gaz., No. 1573/4. A small parcel of most excellent tea … to be sold,… the lowest price is 30 s. a pound.

1728.  Mrs. Delany, in Life & Corr., Ser. I. (1861), I. 172. The man at the Poultry has tea of all prices,—Bohea from thirteen to twenty shillings, and green from twelve to thirty.

1832.  Veg. Subst. Food, 375. Tea …. first imported into Europe by the Dutch East-India Company, in the … seventeenth century.

1838.  T. Thomson, Chem. Org. Bodies, 858. Tea … is composed of the dried leaves of the thea bohea and the thea viridis.

  b.  With qualifying words, denoting various kinds, chiefly distinguished by the mode of preparation (also applied to the beverages made from these: see 2): the main classes being black tea, which is exposed to the air for some time, so as to produce fermentation, before roasting; and green tea, which is roasted almost immediately after gathering, and often also artificially colored.

  Black teas include BOHEA, CONGOU, OOLONG, PEKOE, SOUCHONG; green teas, GUNPOWDER (or PEARL), HYSON, etc. See also brick-tea (BRICK sb.¹ 10), † cowslip tea (COWSLIP 3).

  1704.  Lond. Gaz., No. 4059/4 Green and Bohee Tea.

1712.  Addison, Spect., No. 328. Green, Imperial, Peco, and Bohea-Tea.

1785.  Rolliad, 53. What tongue can tell the various kinds of Tea? Of Blacks and Greens, of Hyson and Bohea; With Singlo, Congou, Pekoe and Souchong, Couslip the fragrant, Gun-powder the Strong.

1795.  Anderson, Brit. Embassy China, 186. The Imperial and gunpowder teas:… the former … collected from the first, and the other from the successive blossoms of that plant.

1832.  Veg. Subst. Food, 379. There are three kinds of green tea … one called hyson, hayssuen, is composed of leaves … carefully picked.

1888.  J. Paton, Tea, in Encycl. Brit., XXIII. 97/2. Black and green tea are made indifferently from the leaves of the same plant.

  2.  A drink made by infusing these leaves in hot water, having a somewhat bitter and aromatic flavor, and acting as a moderate stimulant; largely used as a beverage.

[1601–1625: see CHIA.

1631.  Bontius, Hist. Nat. et Med. Indiæ Orient., I. vi. (1658), 12. Dur. Memineras de Chinensium Thee vocato Potu, quid tu de eo sentis? Bont. Herbula unde hoc The conficitur [etc.].]

1658.  Mercurius Politicus, 23 Sept., 887, Advt. That excellent … drink called by the Chineans Tcha, by other Nations Tay alias Tee.

1660.  Pepys, Diary, 25 Sept. I did send for a cup of tee (a China drink) of which I never had drunk before.

1663.  Dryden, Wild Gallant, I. ii. I sent for three dishes of tea.

1679.  Locke, in Ld. King, Life (ed. Bohn), 135. Foreign drinks to be found in England are … coffé, thé and chocolate at coffee houses.

1694.  Congreve, Double Dealer, I. i. They are at the end of the gallery, retired to their tea and scandal … after dinner.

1711.  Addison, Spect., No. 10, ¶ 2. All well-regulated Families, that set apart an Hour in every Morning for Tea and Bread and Butter.

1711.  Pope, Rage of Lock, III. 8. Here, thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey, Dost sometimes counsel take—and sometimes Tea.

c. 1720.  Prior, To Yng. Gentl. in Love, 58. He thank’d her on his bended knee; Then drank a quart of milk and tea.

1763.  Gentl. Mag., April, 187/2. No crowding sycophants from day to day, Came to admire the babe—but more the tea.

1834.  Lang, in Tait’s Mag., I. 414/1. In the bush, or uncultivated country in New South Wales, tea is the universal beverage.

1858.  Lytton, What will he do, I. vi. Your tea will get quite cold.

  3.  The plant from which tea is obtained, a shrub of the genus Thea (now often included in Camellia), N.O. Ternstrœmiaceæ, with white flowers, and oval pointed slightly toothed evergreen leaves; cultivated from ancient times in China, Japan, India, and adjacent countries. (Now chiefly in comb., as tea-leaf, -plant, etc.)

  The plants yielding the tea of commerce are comprised in the species T. chinensis or C. theifera (including two varieties T. Bohea and T. viridis, sometimes reckoned as different species), of China and Japan, and T. (or C.) assamica, of Assam and India; the latter is found wild in Upper Assam, and is by some supposed to be the original type.

1663.  Boyle, Usef. Exp. Nat. Philos., II. ii. 104. That Herb, which the French and we call Thé, or Té, which is much magnified here.

1685.  J. Chamberlayne, Coffee, Tea & Choc., 38. The most excellent leaves of Cha, or Tea, are found in the provinces of Kiangnon.

1745.  P. Thomas, Jrnl. Anson’s Voy., 193. Because warm Water is unpalatable…, they [the Chinese] bethought themselves of putting some Leaves of a Tree into it, to give it a better Taste. Those of Tea seemed to be the best.

  4.  A meal or social entertainment at which tea is served; esp. an ordinary afternoon or evening meal, at which the usual beverage is tea (but sometimes cocoa, chocolate, coffee, or other substitute).

  High tea, meat tea: see HIGH a. 21, MEAT sb. 6. Tea and turn-out: see TURN-OUT.

1738.  Swift, Pol. Conversat., Introd. 2. Whether they meet … at Meals, Tea, or Visits.

1778.  Miss Burney, Evelina (1791), I. xxvi. 144. I was relieved by a summons to tea.

1789.  Wesley, Wks. (1872), IV. 453. At breakfast and at tea, on these two days, I met all the Society.

1833.  Ht. Martineau, Loom & Lugger, I. iii. She asked Rebecca if she would come to tea at their house.

1882.  Fr. A. Kemble, Later Life, II. 187. My first introduction to ‘afternoon tea’ took place during this visit to Belvoir [in 1842]. I do not believe that the now universally-honoured institution of ‘five o’clock tea’ dates further back than this.

1897.  Miss Harraden, H. Strafford, Remitt. Man, iii. A rattling good tea—hot rolls, fried potatoes, and quail.

1901.  Clark Russell, Ship’s Adv., iv. Mrs. Brierly spread a liberal tea upon the table.

1916.  Seumas O’Brien, Matchmakers, in Duty, etc., 107. I suppose you must present yourself at Court and have tea with the Queen herself?

  b.  To take tea with (colonial slang): to have dealings with, associate with; esp. to deal with in a hostile manner, engage with, encounter.

1888.  ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Robbery under Arms, xxxvii. ‘Maybe we’ll take tay with the rest of ’em now.’ They didn’t know the man they were after, or they’d have just as soon have gone to ‘take tea,’ as they called it, with a tiger.

1896.  Kipling, Seven Seas, Lost Legion, ii. Take tea with the giddy Masai.

1905.  Daily Chron., 2 June, 3/3. In polite circles genealogies are tatooed, the slightest trace of hybridity barring ‘taking tea,’ as the local phrase has it.

  5.  Used as a general name for infusions made in the same way as tea (sense 2), usually from the leaves, blossoms, or other parts of plants; mostly used medicinally, sometimes as ordinary drinks.

  Commonly with defining words, as alehoof, balm, bees, camomile, camphor, coffee, cowslip, hartshorn, laurel, lemon, lemon-grass, poppy, rosemary, sage, saloop, sassafras, senna, tilleul, valerian, willow (etc.) tea: see these words. So humorously limestone tea (quot. 1723).

1665–6.  Phil. Trans., I. 250. They dry … Sage-leaves … and prepare them like The, and … get for one pound of it, four times as much The.

1699.  Evelyn, Acetaria, § 27. 27. Some of them [flowers] are Pickl’d, and divers of them make also very pleasant and wholsome Theas, as do likewise the Wild Time, Bugloss, Mint, &c.

1723.  Stukeley, Lett., 22 July, in Mem. (Surtees), III. 249. I am just drinking your health in a swinger of limestone thea [Bath water].

1724.  Watts, Logic, I. iv. § 4. Tea, which was the proper name of one sort of Indian leaf, is now-a-days become a common name for many infusions of herbs, or plants, in water: as sage-tea, alehoof-tea, limon-tea, etc.

1727.  A. Hamilton, New Acc. E. Ind., II. I. 222. He treated me with Tartarian Tea, which I took to be Beans boyled in Milk, with some salt.

1731.  Gentl. Mag., I. 314. Or some of these Ingredients [Marsh Mallow, &c.] so dried, make Tea, as you do common Tea, with boiling hot Water.

1778.  R. James, Diss. Fevers, 135. Any syrup, jelly of currants, barley-water, gruel, or any sort of tea.

1783.  S. Chapman, in Med. Commun., I. 305. He was advised to leave off drinking foreign tea, and to drink valerian, or rosemary, tea.

1795.  trans. Thunberg’s Trav., I. 128. Of the leaves of the barbonia cordata the country people made tea.

1863.  Bates, Nat. Amazon, iv. (1864), 92. The men had made a fire in the galley, to make tea of an acid herb called ‘erva cidreira.’

1866.  Treas. Bot., 1127. Lemon-grass Tea, an infusion of the leaves of Andropogon Schænanthus, substituted for tea in many of the interior districts of India. Ibid. Tea … of heaven, a Japanese name for the leaves of Hydrangea Thunbergii.

1881.  Trans. Obstet. Soc. Lond., XXII. 32. The word ‘tea’ is by the natives of this island [Jamaica] applied to any infusion made from leaves of plants either fresh or dry, ‘Cotton leaf tea’ is made from the green leaves of one of the shrubs that produces the cotton of commerce.

1891.  J. G. Bourke, Scatol. Rites, xli. 335. Sheep-manure tea was used for measles in County Cork, Ireland, and by the negroes of Chestertown, Md. Sheep-dung tea for measles all over New England, Ohio, and Cape Breton.

1893.  Baring-Gould, Cheap Jack Z., II. xvi. 41. It is given poppy tea, and that sends it to sleep.

  6.  With defining words, applied to various plants whose leaves, flowers, etc., are used in the same way as tea, either for beverages, or medicinally (also to the leaves, etc., themselves, or the drink infused from them). (See also TEA-PLANT, TEA-TREE.)

  Abyssinian tea = Arabian tea, (a). Algerian tea, species of Paronychia, from whose flowers a medicinal tea is made. Appalachian tea, (a) Viburnum cassinoides; (b) Ilex Cassine, I. vomitoria, or Prinos glaber. Arablan tea, (a) Catha edulis, whose leaves furnish a stimulating beverage used in Arabia; (b) = Algerian tea. Australian tea, (a) ‘several species of Leptospermum and Melaleuca’ (Treas. Bot., 1866): see TEA-TREE 2; (b) = Botany Bay tea (Morris, Austral Eng., 1898). Barbary tea, the box-thorn or Duke of Argyll’s tea-tree, Lycium barbarum. Bencoolen tea, Glaphyria nitida (Leptospermum nitidum), of the Malayan islands. Blue Mountain or Golden Rod tea, Solidago odora of North America, from whose leaves and flowers a beverage is made. Botany Bay tea, an Australian species of sarsaparilla, Smilax glycyphylla, also called sweet tea. Bourbon tea = Faham tea. Brazil or Brazilian tea, Stachytarpha jamaicensis. Bush tea, Cyclopia genistoides of S. Africa. Canada tea = TEA-BERRY: see CANADA. Canary tea, Sida canariensis (S. rhombifolia). Carolina tea, Ilex vomitoria: = Appalachian tea, (b). † Ceylon tea, Elæodendron glaucum: see TEA-TREE 3 (obs.). Faham tea, a tropical orchid, Angræcum fragrans. † False tea = Paraguay tea. Hottentot’s tea, Helichrysum serpyllifolium (see HOTTENTOT 3). Jesuits’ tea, (a) Psoralea glandulosa (see JESUIT sb. 4. c); (b) Paraguay tea (Cent. Dict.). Kaffir tea, Helichrysum nudifolium (see KAFFIR 4). Labrador tea, Ledum latifolium and L. palustre (see LABRADOR). Malay tea, (a) = Bencoolen tea; (b) Eugenia variabilis. Marsh tea, Ledum palustre (Cent. Dict.). Mexican tea, (a) Ambrina (Chenopodium) ambrosioides; (b) = Jesuits’ tea, (a): see MEXICAN A. b. Mountain tea = TEA-BERRY: see MOUNTAIN 9 d. New Jersey tea, Ceanothus americanus (see quot. 1858). New Zealand tea, Leptospermum scoparium: see TEA-TREE 2. Oswego tea, a N. American aromatic labiate, Monarda didyma, used as a tonic and stomachic. Paraguay tea, Ilex paraguayensis, extensively used in S. America as a substitute for tea: see PARAGUAY 1. St. Bartholomew’s tea = Paraguay tea (Cent. Dict.). St. Helena tea, Beatsonia (Frankenia) portulacifolia. Soldiers’ tea = MATICO. South Sea tea = Paraguay tea; also an erroneous name for Carolina tea. Surinam tea, ‘various species of Lantana’ (Miller, Plant-n.). Sweet tea = Botany Bay tea. Teamster’s tea, a N. American plant, Ephedra anti-syphilitica, used as a remedy for venereal affections. Theezan tea, Sageretia theezans, a thorny rhamnaceous shrub of S. China, whose leaves are said to be used for tea by the poorer classes. West Indian tea, Capraria biflora, also called goat-weed. Wild tea, a N. American leguminous shrub, Amorpha canescens, also called lead-plant.

1727–41.  Chambers, Cycl., South-Sea tea [see PARAGUAY 1].

1760.  J. Lee, Introd. Bot., App. 321. Osweego Thea, Monarda [didyma]. Ibid., 329. False Tea, Ilex. Ibid. New Jersey Tea, Ceanothus. Ibid. Paraguay Tea, Ilex. Ibid. South-sea Tea, Ilex.

1764.  Museum Rust., II. xxxviii. 117. The South-Sea tea, which is thought to be the same plant as the Paraguay tea; but whether it is the same as the tea brought from China, is yet undetermined.

1788.  D. Considen, Lett. to Banks, in Hist. Rec. N. S. Wales (1892), I. II. 220. I have sent you some of the sweet tea of this country,… it is a good anti-scorbutic.

1790.  J. White, Voy. N. S. Wales, 195. The sweet-tea is a creeping kind of vine … the taste is sweet, exactly like the liquorice root of the shops.

1814.  Roxburgh, Hort. Bengal., 18. Elæodendrum glaucum, Ceylon Tea.

1857.  Henfrey, Elem. Bot., § 508. 336. [The leaves] of Ilex Paraguayensis, called Maté or Paraguay Tea, resemble Tea in property.

1858.  Hogg, Veg. Kingd., lxvi. 237. The leaves of Ceanothus americanus were used during the revolutionary war as a substitute for tea, and hence it is called New Jersey Tea. Ibid., cxv. 482. The leaves [of Gaultheria procumbens] … make an excellent substitute for tea,… and the plant is … called Tea-berry and Mountain Tea. Ibid., cxix. 489. Ilex vomitoria has been erroneously called South Sea Tea, from the supposition that it was the same plant as I. paraguensis.

1866.  Treas. Bot., 49. Ambrina ambrosioides, or Mexican Tea,… long naturalised in the south of Europe, is used medicinally. Ibid., 369. The leaflets of [Cyclopia genistoides] are used at the Cape in infusion or decoction for promoting expectoration…. It is called Bush Tea. [Ibid., 1005. S[ageretia] theezans, the Tia of the Chinese, is a thorny shrub, with … finely-toothed egg-shaped leaves … somewhat resembling those of the tea-shrub.] Ibid., 1090. [The] leaves [of Stachytarpha jamaicensis] are sometimes used to adulterate tea, and in Austria they are sold under the name of Brazilian tea. Ibid., 1127. Tea, Abyssinian,… Appalachian [etc.],… Arabian,… Australian [etc.].

1904.  Dunglison’s Dict. Med. (ed. 23). Matico … the leaves of Piper angustifolium or soldiers’ tea or herb.

  7.  slang. a. Spirituous or intoxicating liquor. † b. Urine (obs.).

1693.  Remonstr. Batchelors, in Harl. Misc. (ed. Park), IV. 505. Since their sex has been so familiar with brandy (blasphemed by the name of cold tea).

1716.  Gay, Trivia, II. 176. The thoughtless Wits … Who ’gainst the Centry’s Box discharge their Tea.

1887.  Hissey, Holiday on Road, 370. Tea or coffee were always at our command, Scotch tea also (i. e. whisky).

1902.  Times, 29 Oct., 5/6. It was all owing to the ‘tea.’… He understood that this was a slang term for drink.

  8.  Florists’ abbreviation of TEA-ROSE.

1889.  Pall Mall G., 6 July, 3/2. At Cheshunt about 200,000 standard rose seedlings and 40,000 ‘teas’ are sown every year.

1901.  Eliza. & German Gard., 17. I wish now I had put teas there. 18, I made my teas face a northern winter.

  9.  attrib. and Comb. a. attrib. Of, pertaining or relating to, dealing or connected with tea as a commodity, as tea act, bill, -broker, -dealer, -duty, -hong (see HONG), industry, merchant, -shop, -tax, trade, warehouse; or as a beverage, as tea-breakfast, -dinner, -dregs, junketing, picnic, soirée, -supper, -visit; containing or intended to contain tea, as tea-bowl, -hamper, -jar, -pail; of or pertaining to the tea-plant or its cultivation, as tea crop, cultivation, culture, district, estate, -farming, -field, -hill, nursery, plantation, -seed, -tract. b. Objective and obj. gen., as tea-blender, -grower, -packer, -producer, -sipper, -spiller; tea-blending, -growing, -loving, -packing, -picking sbs. and adjs.; instrumental and parasynthetic, as tea-colored, -covered, -inspired, -sodden adjs.

1746.  Lockman, To 1st Promoter Cambrick & Tea Bills, 13, note. Since the *Tea-Act pass’d last session, the revenue is increased 85,000l. per annum.

1904.  Westm. Gaz., 15 Aug., 6/2. The big *tea-blenders naturally took advantage of this cheapness to push and extend their business.

1901.  Daily Chron., 6 May, 9/3. Man wanted for *tea blending warehouse.

1865.  G. Meredith, Rhoda Fleming, xxxii. The squire … drank, defying ladies and the new-fangled subserviency to those flustering *tea-bodies.

1886.  Guide Galleries Brit. Mus., 209. On the upper shelves are examples of … *tea-bowls.

1825.  Hone, Every-day Bk., I. 951. I … got up to a hot *tea-breakfast.

1770.  Chron., in Ann. Reg., 154/2. A *tea-broker, charged with forging a warrant for the delivery of three chests of tea.

1902.  Westm. Gaz., 31 Dec., 9/3. The *Tea Clearing House has succumbed to the attack of tea producers, importers, dealers, and brokers.

1829.  W. H. Maxwell, Stories Waterloo, I. 194. Short tights of *tea coloured leather.

1897.  J. A. Graham, Threshold Three Closed Lands, ii. 30. As our eye follows up one of the *tea-covered spurs it lights on the houses of Darjeeling.

1906.  Month, Feb., 177. Sides green with sprouting *tea crops.

1842.  Penny Cycl., XXIV. 286/2. Papers respecting *tea cultivation in India. Ibid., 286/1. The *tea-culture in Assam.

1758.  Chron., in Ann. Reg., I. 111/1. Four *tea dealers were tried before the commissioners of excise.

1886.  C. E. Pascoe, London of To-day, xxii. (ed. 3), 216. The premises of one of the oldest firms in London—those of the Messrs. Twining, tea-dealers and bankers.

1862.  R. C. Mayne, Brit. Columbia, 121. We lunched with him, returning to the fort for a *tea-dinner.

1896.  Allbutt’s Syst. Med., I. 402. That customary but very unwholesome combination the tea-dinner is to be avoided.

1842.  Penny Cycl., XXIV. 286/1. There are green tea and black *tea districts. Ibid., 291/1. The tariff of 1842 has made no alteration in the *tea-duty.

1886.  Pall Mall G., 19 May, 6/1. The new industry of *tea-farming … promises to become a new source of wealth to Ceylon.

1895.  Clive Holland, Jap. Wife, 110. The cemeteries and *tea-fields stretched below us.

1888.  J. Paton, in Encycl. Brit., XXIII. 98/1. Comparatively few regions are suited for practical *tea-growing. Ibid., 99/1. The capacities of Assam as a tea-growing country.

1854.  Zoologist, XII. 4206. The *tea-hills in the province of Chekiang.

1885.  Cornh. Mag., March, 281. [The tea-leaves are] fired under their own supervision in the great *tea-hongs.

1888.  J. Paton, in Encycl. Brit., XXIII. 102/1. Next to the United Kingdom, the greatest *tea-importing nation is the United States. Ibid., 99/1. The *tea industry has developed in Ceylon with marvellous rapidity.

1891.  B. E. Martin, Footpr. Chas. Lamb, iii. 65. Hazlitt, with … his *tea-inspired turgidity.

1820.  W. Irving, Sketch Bk., xxvi. (1859), 189. Little humdrum *tea junketings.

1883.  Cassell’s Fam. Mag., Aug., 529/1. The *tea-loving English public.

1888.  J. Paton, in Encycl. Brit., XXIII. 99/1. It is these tender shoots … which alone are gathered for *tea manufacture.

1842.  Penny Cycl., XXIV. 291/2. The number of *tea merchants who resort to Canton. Ibid., 286/2. When the *tea nurseries were established in Assam.

1904.  Daily News, 13 Oct., 12. The dispute between the *tea-packers and the management of the Co-operative Wholesale Society.

1898.  Daily Chron., 24 Sept., 10/6. Boy wanted … in *tea-packing warehouse.

1906.  Macm. Mag., April, 457. Their … method is to stalk the Chinese of either sex when they are engaged in *tea-picking.

1842.  Penny Cycl., XXIV. 286/2. The *tea plantations established in the Kumaon and Gurhwal districts.

1894.  Westm. Gaz., 5 Jan., 6/3. The British have become … the greatest *tea-producers … in the world.

1888.  J. Paton, in Encycl. Brit., XXIII. 98/2. Till well into the 19th century … China and Japan were the only two *tea-producing countries.

1786.  M. Cutler, in Life, etc. (1888), I. 190. I have no doubt the *tea seed … may be obtained from the East Indies in a vegetative state.

1729.  Swift, Direct. Servants, Waiting-Maid (1745), 81–2. The Mistress of the Tea-shop may now and then give you half an Ounce, but that will be only a Drop in the Bucket.

1860.  J. R. Edkins, Chinese Scenes (1863), 153. I shall try to give you a little picture of the tea-shop.

1756.  Hanway, Ess. Tea, viii. 245. Were they the sons of *tea-sippers, who won the fields of Cressy and Agincourt?

1849.  Thackeray, Pendennis, xliv. A brilliant *tea soirée.

1877.  G. W. Balfour, in Encycl. Brit., VII. 482/1. *Tea-sots are well known to be affected with palpitation and irregularity of the heart.

1837.  W. Phillips, in C. Martyn, Life (1890), 96. Certainly we sons of the *tea-spillers are a marvellously patient generation! [Cf. TEA-PARTY 2 a.]

1892.  Zangwill, Childr. Ghetto, I. 198. The story-book which Moses read out after *tea-supper.

1888.  J. Paton, in Encycl. Brit., XXIII. 101/1. Dependent on China for its *tea supply.

1907.  Edin. Rev., July, 97. The *tea-tax strikes tea-drinkers only.

1842.  Penny Cycl., XXIV. 286/2. At first only a few [indigenous] *tea-tracts were discovered [in Assam].

1756.  Hanway, Ess. Tea, xii. 258. The *tea trade employs six hundred seamen … together with six ships, which we annually send to Canton.

1888.  J. Paton, in Encycl. Brit., XXIII. 102/2. The only other considerable *tea-using nation is Russia.

1765.  J. Brown, Chr. Jrnl. (1814), 331. Yonder professors come from a *tea-visit.

1807–8.  W. Irving, Salmag., i. (1824), 7. When ladies paid tea-visits at three in the afternoon.

1888.  Pall Mall G., 9 May, 10/1. Certain *tea warehousemen of the City of London.

  c.  Special Combs.: tea-basket, a basket containing the requisites for afternoon tea in a railway train or the like; tea-bell, a bell rung to summon a household or company to tea; tea-billy (BILLY² 1 c), a tin can used by Australian bushmen as a tea-kettle or tea-pot; tea-boiler, a vessel used for boiling tea; tea-box, a box for containing tea; in quot. = TEA-CHEST 2; tea-boy, a man-servant (Ireland); tea-bread, a kind of light bread eaten at tea; tea-broom, New Zealand name for Leptospermum scoparium and L. ericoides (= MANUKA a, b, TEA-TREE 2); tea-bug, a destructive insect which infests tea-plants; tea-bush = tea-shrub; tea-caddy, a small box with divisions for holding tea (= CADDY¹ 1); tea-cake, a light kind of flat cake to be eaten at tea; in quot. 1892 attrib. resembling a tea-cake; tea-canister = tea-caddy; also, slang for ‘brandy-flask’ (cf. 7 a); tea-case, a case for holding a set of small articles, as spoons, etc., used at tea (Cent. Dict.); tea-china, china tea-cups and saucers, etc.; tea-circle, a group or society of persons who meet and take tea together; tea-clam, a name in U.S. for a very small clam (CLAM sb.² 1 d: see quot.); tea-clipper, a clipper or fast-sailing vessel formerly employed in the tea trade; tea-cloth, a cloth used for wiping tea-things after washing them; (b) afternoon t., a small table-cloth used at afternoon tea; tea-coat, a garment worn by women at the tea-table (cf. COAT sb. 2 b, and tea-jacket); † tea-conversation (see CONVERSATION 9, quot. 1787); tea-cooper, a workman at a dock who unloads tea and does any necessary repairs to the packing, etc.: cf. COOPER sb.¹ 1; tea-cosy, a covering for a tea-pot to keep it hot (see COSY B. 2); † tea-dish, old name for a tea-cup (cf. DISH sb. 1 b); tea-drunkard, one who habitually drinks tea to such excess as to suffer from its toxic effects; † tea-equipage = tea-service, tea-things; † tea-faced a., ? having a sallow or effeminate countenance like one addicted to tea-drinking; tea-fight, colloq. or slang, humorous name for a tea-party or tea-meeting; tea-frock, tea-gown, names for special fashions of garments worn by girls and women at tea; † tea-grouter (see quot.); tea-hour, the hour at which tea is taken, or the time occupied by it; tea-house, a refreshment-house where tea is served (esp. in China or Japan); tea-jacket, a garment worn by women at tea (cf. tea-coat); tea-lead, an alloy used for lining tea-chests (see quot.); tea-maker, (a) a person who dries the leaves and prepares the tea of commerce; (b) one who makes or infuses tea; (c) a vessel or apparatus for infusing tea; so tea-making sb. and a.; tea-meeting, a public social meeting (usually in connection with a religious organization) at which tea is taken; tea-night, an evening on which guests are entertained at tea; tea oil, (a) an oil resembling olive-oil, obtained from the seeds of species of Camellia (allied to the tea-plant), and used for various purposes in China and Japan; (b) a narcotic essential oil obtained from tea-leaves; tea-punch, punch containing tea as an ingredient; tea-roller, a machine for rolling or curling tea-leaves for the market; so tea-rolling; tea-room, a room in which tea is served in a refreshment-house, etc.; notably, that of the British House of Commons, the scene of numerous informal meetings of members; tea-root, the root of a tea-plant; tea-sage, a species or variety of sage used for making sage-tea; † tea-saucer, a saucer for supporting a tea-cup; tea-scent, ‘a European fern, Nephrodium montanum’ (Cent. Dict.); tea-scented a., having a scent like that of tea: applied to a variety of rose (see TEA-ROSE); tea-scrub, a scrub or thicket of ‘tea-trees’ (in Australia, etc.): see TEA-TREE; tea-service, tea-set, a set of articles used in serving tea at table; a set of tea-things; † tea-shine, colloq. a tea-party (cf. tea-fight); tea-ship, (a) a ship engaged in the tea-trade; (b) a tea-stand with two or more shelves or ‘decks’; tea-shrub, the common tea-plant (see 3); tea-sifter, (a) a person engaged in sifting tea; (b) an apparatus for sifting tea; tea-stall, tea-stand, a stand on which cups, saucers, plates, etc., are placed for use at tea; tea-stick, a stick cut from the Australian tea-tree; tea-stone: see quots.; tea-things sb. pl., the articles used for serving tea at table, as tea-pot, milk-jug, sugar-basin, cups, saucers, plates, etc., together forming a tea-set or tea-service; tea-time, the time at which the meal called tea is taken (see sense 4); † tea-tongs, a former name for sugar-tongs; tea-urn, an urn with a tap, placed upon a tea-table, to hold hot water for making tea; tea-ware, vessels, etc., for serving tea, tea-things; tea-water, (a) water for making tea; (b) Sc. the beverage tea (= sense 2); tea-wine, a fermented liquor made from tea (see quot.). See also TEA-BERRY, -BOARD, -CHEST, etc.

1901.  Wide World Mag., VIII. 135/1. There is a lump of sugar in the *tea-basket.

1867.  Aug. J. E. Wilson, Vashti, i. The sound of the *tea-bell terminated her reverie, and she walked to the dining-room.

1894.  H. Nisbet, Bush Girl’s Rom., 133. A number of *tea-billies were ranged on the clay hobs, some with tea already brewed, and some with water only.

1825.  J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 632. The lead which lines the Chinese *tea-boxes is reduced to a thinness which our plumbers cannot, it is said, approach.

1848.  Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxvii. Major O’Dowd … was … as obedient to his wife as if he had been her *tay-boy.

1831.  Jane Porter, Sir E. Seaward’s Narr., I. 229. Some johnny cakes, a West Indian sort of *tea-bread.

1872.  A. Domett, Ranolf, Notes, 505. Mánuka…. The settlers often call it *‘tea-broom.’

1893.  Athenæum, 16 Dec., 853/3. He [Mr. Waterhouse] also exhibited male and female specimens of a Helopeltis (the *tea-bug), which he considered a distinct species, and stated that it had occurred only in Assam.

1908.  Dollar Mag., March, 32. The *tea bushes were miserably poor just there.

1837.  Howitt, Rur. Life, VI. ix. (1862), 500. *Tea-caddies, workboxes of rosewood and pearl.

1866.  R. M. Ballantyne, Shift. Winds, xvii. [She] went to a cupboard … and took therefrom a tea-caddy, which she set on the table.

1892.  Daily News, 31 Dec., 2/1. The bonnet of the moment is set well back on the head, forming a sort of garland above the *‘teacake’ coiffure.

1897.  R. Hichens, Londoners, ix. 156. Mr. Bush … was closely engaged with a tea-cake.

1800.  Helena Wells, Constantia Neville (ed. 2), III. 121. The *tea-cannister contained only Congou of no very superior quality.

1859.  F. Francis, Newton Dogvane (1888), 184. Pass us the tea-canister.

1830.  Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. IV. 332. The dresser was … adorned with the remains of a long preserved set of *tea-china, of a light rambling pattern.

1831.  Carlyle, Sart. Res., III. ix. Thou … perhaps in many a literary *Tea-circle wilt open thy kind lips.

1883.  G. B. Goode, Fish. Indust. U. S. A., 47. Some are taken so small that 2,000 are required to fill a barrel; these, when about one inch in diameter, are called *‘tea-clams.’

1895.  Mem. Jas. Anderson, ii. 8. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson set sail from London in a *tea-clipper.

1888.  Cassell’s Encycl. Dict., *Tea-cloth, a cloth used in washing up tea-things.

1891.  Cent. Dict., Tea-cloth, a cloth for a tea-table or a tea-tray.

1899.  Westm. Gaz., 12 Aug., 2/1. She came into the room … in a black-and-blue sort of *tea-coat.

1887.  Pall Mall G., 19 Sept., 2. Years ago the *tea-coopers, who are skilled workmen, had a union.

1871.  ‘M. Legrand,’ Camb. Freshm., 18. The elaborate worsted-work teapot cover—technically termed, I believe, a *tea-cosey.

1886.  [see COSY B. 2].

1711.  Eusden, Spect., No. 87, ¶ 8. I saw a gentleman turn as pale as ashes, because an idol turned the sugar in a *tea-dish for his rival.

1716.  Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett., 10 Oct. (1887), I. 129. They showed me … a cup, about the size of a tea-dish, of one entire emerald.

1709.  Mrs. Manley, Secret Mem. (1720), II. 290. He cleans his *Tea-Equipage with his own Hands.

1833.  T. Hook, Parson’s Dau., I. ii. The tea equipage was on the table.

1728.  Ramsay, Archers diverting themselves, 26. When av’rice, luxury, and ease, A *tea-fac’d generation please.

1849.  Alb. Smith, Pottleton Leg., xxxv. Their various small parties—*‘tea-fights’ as young Grant called them.

1901.  Scotsman, 5 March, 7/5. The good people … organise a splendid weekly tea-fight and concert for our behoof.

1903.  Westm. Gaz., 27 Aug., 4/1. The *tea-frock—the form of the tea-gown nice for the younger folks.

1878.  The World, in Royal Exchange, 9 Nov. Ladies, who a few years ago would have considered the idea appalling, calmly array themselves in the glorified dressing robe known as a *‘tea gown.’

1891.  Woman, 15 Jan., 4/1. The factor which has revolutionised the novelistic attire of to-day is the evolution of the tea-gown.

a. 1833.  J. T. Smith, Bk. for Rainy Day (1905), 76. A prognostication announced to my dear mother by an old star-gazer and *tea-grouter. Note. A fortune-teller by tea-leaves, the leaves being ‘grouted,’ or turned over in the cup.

1884.  G. Allen, Philistia, I. 109. Monopolised the … visitor himself for almost the entire *tea-hour.

1689.  Lond. Gaz., No. 2481/4. Catalogues are given at … Mr. Mainwaring’s *Tea-house.

1909.  Daily Chron., 7 June, 4/6. This revolution … practically commenced when in 1657 Garraway opened his famous tea-house in Exchange-alley.

1896.  Daily News, 5 Dec., 6/4. The increasing neatness of the tea-gown is perhaps partly owing to the smartness of cut of its rival, the *tea-jacket.

1815.  J. Smith, Panorama Sc. & Art, I. 52. The metal with which tea-chests are lined, familiarly called *tea-lead, is an alloy principally composed of lead and tin.

1842.  Penny Cycl., XXIV. 286/1. The process … as practised in Assam and Java by the Chinese *tea-makers.

1868.  Holme Lee, B. Godfrey, ii. The parson asked the tea-maker for another cup.

1900.  Daily News, 18 Sept., 6/3. It is put into a perforated receiver, suspended in the ‘tea-maker,’ and boiling water poured over it.

1826.  (title) Tsiology; a discourse on Tea. Being an account of that exotic,… *Tea-making…. By a Tea Dealer.

1833.  T. Hook, Parson’s Dau., I. xii. The operation, which, at Cambridge, is not called by so gentle a term as tea-making.

1888.  Encycl. Brit., XXIII. 100/1. In Chinese tea-making that juice is squeezed out of the leaves.

1894.  Mrs. Dyan, All in a Man’s K. (1899), 207. Without a falter she performed the dainty little service of tea-making.

1897.  St. James’s Gaz., 18 Feb., 11/1. The posting of bills for soirees and *tea-meetings.

1824.  Scott, St. Ronan’s, xxxiv. To secure the necessary degree of crowd upon her *tea-nights, Lady Penelope was obliged to employ some coaxing.

1837.  R. D. Thomson, in Brit. Ann., 358. *Tea oil.

1838.  T. Thomson, Chem. Org. Bodies, 439. Tea oil is expressed from the seeds of the Camellia oleifera.

1728.  Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Punch, Punch Royal. Milk-Punch. *Tea-Punch.

1890.  Pall Mall G., 1 Oct., 2/3. The *tea-rolling machine represented in our view … is the first *tea-roller which has been used on English soil.

1796.  Mme. D’Arblay, Camilla, I. 167. They were proceeding to the *tea-room.

1884.  Pall Mall G., 26 Sept., 2/2. Even a tea-room compromise [between political parties] would be welcome at the present moment.

1690.  Evelyn, Diary, 11 March. I much admired the contortions of the *Thea root, which was so perplexed, large, and intricate.

1727–41.  Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Sage, Kinds … used and cultivated by us are the *Tea-Sage, or Sage of Virtue [etc.].

1761.  Dunn, in Phil. Trans., LII. 185. An artificial horizon of sweet oil in a *tea-saucer.

1845.  Florist’s Jrnl., 207. Coupe de Hebe (*tea-scented).

1849.  Florist, 318. Tea-scented Roses cannot be cultivated with success as border Roses, unless in the extreme south and west of England.

1852.  Mundy, Our Antipodes (1857), 13. Shady paths,… winding among the *‘tea-scrub,’ or skirting the rocky shores [at Sydney].

1858.  Simmonds, Dict. Trade, *Tea-service, Tea-things.

1869.  Trollope, He knew he was right, i. He gave silver cups when the girls were born, and now bestows tea-services as they get married.

1849.  Lytton, Caxtons, I. iv. I would rather the best *tea-set were broken.

1838.  Mrs. Carlyle, Lett. (1883), I. 98. Two *tea-shines went on with éclat.

1876.  Bancroft, Hist. U. S., IV. l. 273. The Boston *tea-ships had sailed.

1905.  Westm. Gaz., 11 Nov., 3/1. The servant went out, and, returning with a three-decker tea-ship, asked whether anything else was required.

1704.  Petiver, Gazophyl., III. xxi. The *Thea Shrub is here Figured.

1798.  Monthly Mag., July, 30/1. The Arabs, to whom we stand indebted for the first accounts of the tea-shrub.

1877.  Windsor & Eton Express, 4 Nov. Two silver *tea-sifters having the Royal crest engraved upon them.

1902.  Westm. Gaz., 31 Jan., 2/1. The wheeled *tea-stall which appears at about four o’clock in all large stations.

1697.  in 14th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. II. (1894), 592. Your Lord who broke the *tea-stand.

1865.  H. Kingsley, Hillyars & Burtons, lxii. You should have a *tea-stick, and take them [dogs] by the tail,… and lay on like old gooseberry.

1848.  S. W. Williams, Middle Kingd., xiii. II. 116. Spectacles are cut … from … a variety of rose quartz resembling the cairngorm stone, which the Chinese call cha-tsing, or *tea-stone, from its color.

1860.  J. Scarth, Twelve Yrs. China, 5. Shaded … by a huge pair of tea-stone spectacles.

1747.  H. Walpole, Lett. (1846), II. 192. You will think I have removed my philosophy from Windsor with my *tea-things hither.

1869.  Trollope, He knew he was Right, xxxi. Dorothy was seated behind the urn and tea-things at a large table.

1756.  Pol. Ballads (1860), II. 332. And now being *tea-time … we put on the kettle.

1782.  Miss Burney, Cecilia, VI. iii. Sometimes he appeared again at tea-time.

1889.  ‘J. S. Winter,’ Mrs. Bob (1891), 46. I shall be back before tea-time.

1738.  Swift, Pol. Conversat., iii. 200. Lady Smart mistakes the *Tea-tongs for the Spoon.

1797.  Nicholson’s Jrnl. Nat. Philos., I. 63. Bended up in the figure of a pair of tea-tongs.

1786.  Cowper, Lett. to Lady Hesketh, 24 Dec. You may purchase … a *tea-urn.

1808.  T. Macgill, Trav., I. xviii. 231. The Russian tea-urns … are made of brass … in place of an iron heater, they have long tubes, into which live charcoal is put.

1825.  J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 483. The insides of *tea-ware are well washed with a liquid which forms, when fired, a thin coating of glass.

1693.  Southerne, Maid’s last Prayer, III. iii. Betty, set on the *Tea-water.

1818.  Scott, Hrt. Midl., xxvi. Breakfast wi’ us yoursell—ye ken how to manage thae porringers of tea-water.

1892.  Walsh, Tea (Philad.), 203. A pleasing drink is also prepared by treating the ordinary infusion with a little yeast and sugar, a *tea-wine being produced from it.

  Hence (nonce-wds.) Teaey a., having the characteristic properties of tea; Teaish a., resembling or relating to tea; Teaism, addiction to tea.

1890.  Spectator, 3 May. We believe Indian tea has conquered because it is the most *tea-ey of teas.

1836.  Tait’s Mag., III. 572. The *teaish propensities of her inamorato.

1904.  E. Nesbit, Phœnix & Carpet, vii. 134. The meal … was not exactly tea. Let us call it a tea-ish meal.

1904.  G. S. Hall, Adolescence, ix. II. 14. Excessive teaism, coffeeism, etc.,… to the prejudice of appetite for plain, wholesome nutritives,… jeopard the highest maturation of powers.