cha

cha · noun¹

1. Persian · derived fromچا
2. Hindustani · borrowed from
3. Proto-Sino-Tibetan · derived from*s-la
4. Chinese · derived from茶
5. English todaycha

From Chinese 茶 (chá), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-la, via two routes: in some cases from Hindustani चा (cā) / چا (cā) (a variant of the same root, from Persian چا, which led to chai), from Northern Chinese; in other cases from 茶 (chá) /t͡sʰɑː²¹/, the pronunciation found in Canton (Guangzhou), where the British bought much of their tea in the 19th century. Doublet of tea, which is from the Amoy Min Nan pronunciation tê.

cha · particle²

From cha-cha (q.v.).

cha · noun³

1. Korean · borrowed from자
2. English todaycha

From the McCune-Reischauer romanization of Korean 자 (ja).

cha · noun⁴

Clipping of charisma.

Words from the same roots