tea

1、英语的 tea 走海路：闽南话 te（厦门音）经马来语 teh、荷兰语 thee 进英语；cha/chai（茶、印度奶茶）走陆路：官话 ch'a 经葡萄牙语 cha 散到俄、土、阿各语言。一词两条航线，是贸易史的活化石。
2、早期英语拼过 chaa、也念过 /tay/ 与 obey 押韵，后来 /tiː/ 胜出定型。荷兰东印度公司当年是主要茶贩，所以欧洲主流"茶"字几乎都跟海路走。
3、tea 单独用还指下午那顿茶点；high tea 正经晚饭级，afternoon tea 点心级。读 /tiː/ 长音。

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

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.

1. I'll make the tea and you pop off for a while.

我来备茶，你去歇一会儿吧。

2. America imports about 190 million pounds of tea a year.

美国每年进口大约1.9亿磅茶叶。

3. At tea-time, Victoria sang duets with her Consort, Prince Albert.

喝下午茶的时候，维多利亚与其夫君艾伯特亲王表演了二重唱。

4. While he was gone she had tea with the Colonel.

他不在时她跟上校一起喝了茶。

5. I don't rant and rave or throw tea cups.

我不会大喊大叫或摔茶杯。