teapoy

English

WOTD – 15 August 2022

Etymology

PIE word
*tréyes

A late-18th-century British teapoy, with its lid open (bottom) to reveal tea caddies and a box.[n 1]

Borrowed from Hindi तिपाई (tipāī), Urdu تپائی‎ (tipāi, “teapoy”), from a merger of Sanskrit त्रिपाद (tripāda, “tripod”) + Classical Persian ‎ (sih-pāy, “tripod”), with the spelling of the first element influenced by association with tea.[1] Sanskrit त्रि (tri, “three”), the first element of त्रिपाद (tripāda), is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”); while Classical Persian ‎ (pây, “foot”), the second element of ‎, is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds (“foot”), from *ped- (“to step; to walk; to fall; to stumble”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtiːpɔɪ/
Audio (Southern England) (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtiˌpɔɪ/
Rhymes: -iːpɔɪ
Hyphenation: tea‧poy

Noun

teapoy (plural teapoys)

(originally India) Originally, a three-legged decorative stand or table; now, especially, one with recesses for holding tea caddies and/or a tea service. [from 1820s]
- 2019, Nancy E. Davis, “Afong Moy Presents Chinese Objects for the Home”, in The Chinese Lady: Afong Moy in Early America, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, part II (The Show), pages 107–108:
  The teapoy, derived from the Hindi/Persian phrase denoting a three-footed table, supported a tea set or tea-related objects. Not all teapoys were tripod-like tables or sold singly. The Carneses imported lacquer teapoys in sets. These sets could be easily stacked in a corner of the drawing room and brought out at teatime to hold a teacup, a set, or a caddy. The Carneses purchased lacquered teapoys sets for four dollars in China and probably sold them for twice that amount in America.

Alternative forms

tepoy, tea-poy

Descendants

→ Bengali: টিপাই (ṭipai)
→ Kannada: ಟೀಪಾಯಿ (ṭīpāyi)

Translations

three-legged decorative stand or table; especially, one with recesses for holding tea caddies and/or a tea service

Bengali: টিপাই (bn) (ṭipai), তেপায়া (bn) (tepaẏa)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 茶几 (zh) (chájī, chájǐ)
Min Nan: 茶桌仔 (tê-toh-á, têe-toh-á) (Zhangzhou Hokkien)
Hindi: तिपाई (hi) (tipāī)

Notes

From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York, USA.

References

Compare “teapoy, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2022; “teapoy, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.