Oswego tea
- noun
- /ˈɑːswɪɡoʊ ti/
- US
:
té de Oswego
- Many people brew Oswego tea for its pleasant aroma and flavor.
Examples
-
The garden was filled with Oswego tea, attracting bees and butterflies throughout the summer.
-
I brewed some Oswego tea this morning.
-
Native Americans traditionally used Oswego tea as a herbal remedy.
-
Have you ever tried Oswego tea?
-
The herbalist recommended Oswego tea for its pleasant flavor and aroma.
-
Every summer, we gather Oswego tea leaves to brew refreshing iced herbal tea.
-
In many gardens, Oswego tea thrives with its vibrant tubular flowers attracting butterflies.
Synonyms
1
7.4
A garden herb with bright scented flowers that attract bees and butterflies
A plant that lives for several years with fragrant, bright flowers that attract bees
A garden herb with bright tube-shaped flowers that attract bees and butterflies
A mint plant with a citrus smell often used in teas
How Aromatic
Surface Forms
Morphology
Oswego + tea
The compound follows the productive and transparent pattern '[place/name] + tea' which signals a type of tea or an herb used to make tea; a learner who knows 'Oswego' as a name and 'tea' would naturally infer it denotes a tea associated with Oswego or a plant used for making tea. The specific botanical details are not required to grasp the general meaning, so the expression is compositional and predictable.
Etymology
Oswego tea gets its name from the Oswego area and the Native Americans there who showed early settlers how to brew the plant's leaves as a warm drink. Because people called that drink tea, the name stuck, and today Oswego tea means the aromatic herb used to make that drink.