Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Chinese ·1710s
Pekoe
from bak-ho
- Meaning
- A grade of black tea made from young leaves and buds.
- Source word
- bak-ho
- Route into English
- Hokkien *bak-ho* (white down — the fine hair on young tea leaves) → English via the tea trade. The "orange" in *orange pekoe* is from the House of Orange, not the fruit.
- Arrived
- 1710s
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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