තේ
tē/t̪eː/
තේ (tē) is the Sinhala word for tea.
The word refers to the drink made from the leaves of the tea plant.
Meaning: drink made from leaves of tea plant (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced as tē (/t̪eː/).
Did you know?
- The Sinhala word තේ was borrowed from the Dutch word 'thee' rather than directly from Chinese or English.
- Sri Lanka is the world's fourth largest producer of තේ, but the industry was largely established by the British after a coffee blight destroyed the island's coffee crops.
- In many parts of the world, tea is a quiet beverage, but in Sri Lanka, the preparation of 'tea' is often a loud, rhythmic performance involving pouring the liquid from great heights to create froth.
Examples in context
- මම තේ බොනවා.mama thē bonavā.I am drinking tea.
- තේ එකක් ඕනද?thē ekak ōnada?Do you want a tea?
- මේ තේ හරිම රසයි.mē thē harima rasayi.This tea is very delicious.
Example conversation
Roshan and Kavindya are sitting in a living room.
- රොෂාන් Roshanකවින්ද්යා, තේ බොන්න ඕනද?Kavindya, thē bonna ōnada?Kavindya, do you want to drink tea?
- කවින්ද්යා Kavindyaඔව්, රොෂාන්, මට තේ එකක් දෙන්න.ow, Roshan, mata thē ekak denna.Yes, Roshan, give me a tea.
- රොෂාන් Roshanමෙන්න ඔයාගේ තේ එක.menna oyāgē thē eka.Here is your tea.
- කවින්ද්යා Kavindyaස්තුතියි, තේ එක හරිම උණුසුම්.sthūthiyi, thē eka harima unusum.Thank you, the tea is very hot.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “tea” translations and entries තේ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries තේ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
