chai

¹ American  

[she] / ʃɛ /

noun

French.

• chais
  plural

1. a shed or other aboveground building where a winemaker stores wine in casks.

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chai ² American  

[chahy] / tʃaɪ /

Sometimes masala chai

noun

1. a drink of tea made with cardamom and various other spices, milk, and a sweetener.

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adjective

1. relating to, reminiscent of, or flavored with a mixture of tea, cardamom, and other spices.

chai British  

/ tʃaɪ /

noun

1. tea, esp as made in India with added spices

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• chais
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of chai

First recorded in 1970–75; from Turkish çay and Hindi, Persian, Russian, Urdu chay “tea,” ultimately from Chinese chá; see tea ( def. )

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Explanation

In Western countries, chai is a sweet, milky, slightly spicy tea. If you're not a coffee drinker, you might start your day with a hot cup of chai instead. The word chai means "tea" in Hindi, from the Mandarin word for "tea," ch'a. This is why it might make a South Asian person giggle to hear you order a "chai tea," which literally means "tea tea." In India, masala chai is the specific name of the familiar milky tea flavored with cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and other spices that's so beloved around the world.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chai chais

“I had found my drink, my happy place,” said Benson, who over time perfected his order: seven pumps of chai concentrate, seven squirts of sugar-free vanilla syrup.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

But its reformulated chai isn’t going down as smoothly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

He asked a barista for guidance, and got the bad news: Starbucks had changed its chai formula.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

By dialing down the sweetener in the original formula, the 70-year-old theorized, fellow chai addicts must now plunk down more for pumps of vanilla syrup or other add-ins to remake their drink.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

While they talked, they drank the chai that Mustafa and I made and mindlessly chewed on tea biscuits and dried fruit and nuts.

From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan

Mr. Imm said that mentality is what makes his common treats — buying iced chais and visiting record stores — feel special.

From New York Times ● Apr. 1, 2022

Mr. Daley, the iron-fisted personification of 20th-century machine politics, would have found the array of MacBooks, ironic mustaches and turmeric ginger-pumpkin chais as fantastical as the mythical animal from which the cafe takes its name.

From New York Times ● Mar. 4, 2018

Tute jins the chais are only kérri arātti te Kūrrkus.”

From The Gypsies by Charles Godfrey Leland

The Indians began to return about sunset well mounted and some with horses and chais.

From Journal of an American Prisoner at Fort Malden and Quebec in the War of 1812 by G. M. (George Moore) Fairchild

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