tea parlor
- noun
- /ti ˈpɑrlər/
- US
:
salón de té
- I enjoyed a delightful afternoon at the tea parlor, sipping on a fragrant chai and nibbling on scones.
Examples
-
The hushed tones of the tea parlors and the elegant shoes your grandmother so loved were there in Haifa, embracing you like a lullaby from the imagined lost world.
Fiction book (1998) -
It was surprisingly enough an afternoon tea parlor where hot chocolate was served.
Fiction book (1998) -
She decided to meet her friend at the local tea parlor for a light lunch and a relaxing conversation.
-
After exploring the art gallery, we stopped by a charming tea parlor to unwind with some pastries.
Synonyms
186
4.4
A room in a house or inn where people sit to talk and meet guests
156
1.0
A small cafe where people buy coffee and light food
25
1.0
A small place where people drink coffee and eat light food
4
2.7
A place where people drink tea and eat light food
4
3.0
A small cafe that serves tea with light meals like cakes and sandwiches
A small place where you drink tea and eat light snacks
A garden or outdoor area where people sit to drink tea and eat light food
How Elegant
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a place where tea and light meals are served' is directly and compositionally built from 'tea' (the beverage) + 'parlor' (a room/place for entertaining or serving). This noun-noun place formation follows regular English compounding patterns and is cross-linguistically obvious, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Tea parlor comes from the home parlor, the sitting room where people long ago met to drink tea and eat cakes. So a tea parlor became 'a place to drink tea and have light meals', and today it means a small café or restaurant for tea and snacks.