crystal tea
- noun
- Archaic
:
té de cristal
- During the American Revolution, colonists brewed crystal tea as a substitute for imported tea.
Examples
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The leaves of crystal tea have a slightly astringent flavor reminiscent of black tea.
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Botanists often study crystal tea as an example of plants used in traditional herbal remedies.
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I love drinking crystal tea in the morning.
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Have you ever tried crystal tea?
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During the American Revolution, colonists brewed crystal tea as a substitute for imported tea.
-
The leaves of crystal tea have a slightly astringent flavor reminiscent of black tea.
-
Botanists often study crystal tea as an example of plants used in traditional herbal remedies.
Synonyms
A small evergreen bush with white bell-shaped flowers and dark green hairy leaves
An evergreen shrub with hairy leaves and small white flowers that people brew as tea
Surface Forms
Morphology
crystal + tea
The compound labels a specific shrub used to make tea, which is not related to the usual sense of 'crystal' (a transparent mineral) combined with 'tea' (a drink). Because 'crystal' here is a lexicalized plant name and the botanical/historical meaning is unpredictable from the constituents, a B1 learner knowing the words would not infer the MWE's meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Crystal tea got its name from the shrub's small white, bell-shaped flowers that look like tiny crystals, and people brewed its leaves as a tea when imported tea was hard to get during the American Revolution. So, crystal tea now means the plant people used to make that 'tea'.
