bohea

• Bohea

Borrowed from Hokkien 武夷 (Bú-î) or 武夷茶 (Bú-î-tê, “Bohea tea”), named after the Bohea Hills or in Hokkien 武夷山 (Bú-î-soaⁿ), also known as Wuyi Mountains from Mandarin 武夷山 (Wǔyíshān), in Fujian where the tea is grown. Compare French bou.

• IPA^(key): /ˈboʊ̯.hi/

bohea (countable and uncountable, plural boheas)

1. A black tea from Fujian, China.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 71–72:

     The breath of the roses, mingled with the fragrant bohea, which stood just made on the little breakfast-table.

• The term originally referred to a high-quality tea, but now refers to a lower-grade tea.

• Douglas, Carstairs (1873) “bú-î”, in Chinese-English Dictionary of the Vernacular or Spoken Language of Amoy, With the Principal Variations of the Chang-chew and Chin-chew Dialects. (overall work in Hokkien and English), London: Trübner & Co., page 162; New Edition, With Corrections by the Author., Thomas Barclay, Lîm Iàn-sîn 林燕臣, London: Publishing Office of the Presbyterian Church of England, 1899, page 162

• obeah