Etymology

kombucha

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Today it means: A fermented, effervescent, and sweetened black tea of Mongolian origin. Full definition →

Japanese 昆布茶
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The story

  1. Japanese · borrowed from昆布茶
  2. English todaykombucha

Origin disputed. Possibly from Japanese 昆布茶 (konbucha, literally “kelp (konbu) tea”), a different type of beverage, and not related to fermentation. Alternatively, derived from Kombu, reportedly a Korean physician who brought the fermented tea to Japan as a curative for Emperor Inkyo in 414 CE + cha (“tea”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.