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Glite Dictionary
white tea

white tea

1 3.7
A light tea made from young leaves with little processing that has a pale color and gentle flavor
  • noun
  • /waɪt ti/
translation icon : té blanco
  • It's a pomegranate white tea, which I believe hits your soul pretty well.
  • rare white tea
  • antioxidants like white tea

And tea addicts, true tea lovers, know that you cannot steep your oolong, your black, your green or your white tea at the same temperature.

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Examples

  • I enjoy sipping white tea in the afternoon because it is calming and not too strong.

  • That's why sometimes we have green tea, white tea, yellow tea, black tea or poor tea.

  • I switched two weeks ago to drinking the sugar-free white tea from Quik Trip, but I haven't noticed any difference in weight.

    Blog text (31)

  • And tea addicts, true tea lovers, know that you cannot steep your oolong, your black, your green or your white tea at the same temperature.

    Molly Burke

  • White tea from China, Scottish shortbread, Devonshire clotted cream, and l just know she's not coming.

    The Extra Man (2010)

  • White tea has a delicate flavor that many people find refreshing.

  • Brewing white tea for just a few minutes helps to maintain its light taste.

Synonyms

tea
vswhite tea
937 1.0

A hot or cold drink made by putting dried leaves in water

is a specific lightly processed variety made from young leaves with pale delicate flavor

How Delicate

white tea
1 3.7
green tea
23 1.0
oolong
5 6.6
black tea
5 1.0

Surface Forms

white tea singular
white teas plural

Morphology

white + tea

The meaning—a type of tea that is pale/delicate—is directly derivable from combining 'white' (pale, light) with 'tea' (the beverage); a B1 learner who knows both words will reasonably infer it denotes a pale/light variety of tea. This is a common, cross-linguistic commodity-naming pattern (compare green/black tea), so the compound is transparently compositional.

Etymology

White tea may come from the tiny white hairs on young tea leaves and the pale color the leaves and cup show because the leaves are only lightly processed. So the name helps you remember that white tea means a light, delicate 'tea' with a pale color.