Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Chinese ·1580s
Lychee
from lai chi
- Meaning
- The fruit of *Litchi chinensis*, a subtropical soapberry.
- Source word
- lai chi
- Route into English
- Cantonese 荔枝 *lai chi* → Portuguese trader vocabulary → English. Variant spellings (litchi, lichee) reflect different romanisation traditions.
- Arrived
- 1580s
From Chinese
Trade English from the South China Sea ports (especially Hokkien-speaking Xiamen and Canton) seeded the early borrowings; 20th-century diplomacy and military contact added the rest.
English borrows.
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