Etymology

pekoe

pe·koe
P3E1K5O1E1

Today it means: A high-quality black tea made using young leaves, grown in Sri Lanka, India, Java and the Azores. Full definition →

Hokkien 白毫
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The story

  1. Hokkien · derived from白花“white flower”
  2. Hokkien · derived from白毫“white hair”
  3. English todaypekoe

Unclear; possibly from Hokkien 白毫 (pe̍h-ho, “white hair”) or Hokkien 白花 (pe̍h-hoe, “white flower”). See Tea leaf grading#Etymology. Compare to Russian ба́йховый (bájxovyj).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.