thé (French)

Where does "thé" come from?

The French word 'thé' traces its origins back to the Hokkien Chinese word 'tê', reflecting the historical maritime trade routes of the 17th century. It was borrowed into French via the Dutch word 'thee', which included a silent 'h' to mimic the appearance of formal Greek. While this coastal trade route gave us 'thé', the overland Silk Road trade brought us the word's doublet, 'chai'.

Full etymology tree

• thé (French), 'tea (especially made from leaves of the tea plant)'
  • borrowed thee (Dutch), 'tea'
    • borrowed 茶 (tê) (Hokkien Chinese)

Ancestors

• thee (Dutch)

Cognates and doublets

• chai (French)
• té (Spanish)

Descendants and derived words

• թեյ (Armenian)
• tè (Corsican)
• tè (Corsican)
• tè (Corsican)
• boule à thé (French)
• cérémonie du thé (French)
• cuillère à thé (French)
• pause thé (French)
• salon de thé (French)
• tasse à thé (French)
• tasse de thé (French)
• thé à la menthe (French)

Updated May 2026

More words starting with T

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris