Meanings
noungaiwan (plural gaiwans or gaiwan)
plural gaiwans
- A Chinese lidded cup or bowl, used to steep tea, sometimes including a saucer, developed during the Ming dynasty as an improvement upon the (lidless) chawan.
Perhaps the greatest vessel for brewing tea is one of the most simple in construction and design: the gaiwan. In use since at least the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), the gaiwan is ubiquitous in Chinese tea culture and consists of only a saucer, a bowl, and a lid.
2015, Joseph Wesley Uhl, The Art and Craft of Tea, Quarry Books, →ISBN, page 83
Origin
- Mandarin蓋碗 /盖碗
- Englishgaiwan
From Mandarin 蓋碗 /盖碗 (gàiwǎn, literally “lidded bowl”).
More words from Mandarin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Cantonese 焗盅
- 焗盅 (guk⁶ zung¹)lidded cup or bowl
Chinese Mandarin 蓋碗 /盖碗
- 蓋碗 /盖碗 (gàiwǎn)lidded cup or bowl
Finnish gaiwan
- gaiwanlidded cup or bowl
French gaiwan
- gaiwanlidded cup or bowl
German Gaiwan
- Gaiwanlidded cup or bowl
Italian gaiwan
- gaiwanlidded cup or bowl
Japanese 蓋碗
- 蓋碗 (kaiwan)lidded cup or bowl
Korean 개완
- 개완 (gaewan)lidded cup or bowl
Russian гайва́нь
- гайва́нь (gajvánʹ)lidded cup or bowl
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
gaiwan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaiwan
MLA
“gaiwan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaiwan. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gaiwan,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gaiwan.
Source: gaiwan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.