chai

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

chai (plural chais)

1. A female gypsy.

   Coordinate term: chal

• chie (obsolete)

From Hindustani चाय / چائے (cāy), from Persian چای (and Turkish çay, and cognates)[1] from Sinitic 茶 (chá).[2] Doublet of tea; see that page for extended history.

• enPR: chī, IPA^(key): /t͡ʃaɪ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ

chai (usually uncountable, plural chais)

1. Ellipsis of masala chai, a beverage made with black teas, steamed milk and sweet spices, based loosely on Indian recipes.
   • 2023, Santanu Bhattacharya, One Small Voice, Fig Tree, page 350:

     ‘So much for making chai,ʼ she teases, but lets him do the rest of the work. He adds the tea leaves to the boiling milk, then strains the liquid into cups.

• chai latte, chai tea, masala chai

• cha
• chai latte
• masala chai

Borrowed from Hebrew חַי (kháy, “alive”).

• IPA^(key): [χai̯]

chai

1. (Judaism) A Jewish symbol representing life, traditionally worn as an amulet.
   • 1995 May 21, Steven Levy, “The Unabomber and David Gelernter”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Nothing hangs on the walls, though a stained-glass Hebrew chai leans against the window.

   • 2011 February 18, Mark Marino, “Kosher beef between two rappers”, in CNN‎, archived from the original on 1 February 2023:

     Today, he [Drake] wears a diamond-studded Chai, a symbol of the Jewish word for life, and has his mother pressuring him to marry "a nice Jewish girl," according to Heeb magazine.

• Chai, Hai, hai

Borrowed from French chai, from Occitan.

• IPA^(key): /ʃɛ/

chai (plural chais)

1. (winemaking) A place above ground for storing wine casks.
   • 2004, Clive Coates, The Wines of Bordeaux, University of California Press, →ISBN, page 302:

     The Kanon era lasted a mere 10 years, yet he had the château constructed, invested substantially in the vineyard and chais, and established the wine as one of the leading labels in the area.

• chai on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• chai (symbol) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• AHCI, Achi, Chia, chia

Inherited from Romani ćhaj.

chai f (plural chais)

1. girl
2. (antiphrastic) harlot, prostitute

• “chai” in J. Tineo Rebolledo, A Chipicalli (La Llengua Gitana), Granada: Gómez de la Cruz, 1900, →OCLC, page 32.
• “chai” in Francisco Quindalé, Diccionario gitano, Madrid: Oficina Tipográfica del Hospicio.
• “chai” in Vocabulario : Caló - Español, Portal del Flamenco y Universidad.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtsɑi̯/, [ˈts̠ɑ̝i̯]
• Rhymes: -ɑi
• Syllabification^(key): chai

chai (colloquial)

1. (jargon) Clipping of chai latte (“chai latte”).

Via English chai from Urdu چائے (cāe), Hindi चाय (cāy, “tea”).

• chaï, tchaï

• IPA^(key): /tʃaj/

chai m (plural chais)

1. masala chai (a tea drink)

Borrowed from Occitan [Term?].

• IPA^(key): /ʃɛ/
• Homophone: Chaix

chai m (plural chais)

1. wine cellar

   Synonym: cave à vin

   Mis en bouteille dans nos chais. ― Bottled in our wine cellars.

• “chai”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

chai

1. (Maroon Spirit Language) Carry.

chai

1. Nonstandard spelling of chāi.
2. Nonstandard spelling of chái.
3. Nonstandard spelling of chǎi.
4. Nonstandard spelling of chài.

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

• IPA^(key): [tʃʰɑj]

-chai (inalienable, e.g., shichai "my grandfather/grandson", bichai "her/his/their grandfather/grandson")

1. maternal grandfather, mother's father, grandson (from daughter), daughter's son

• chaer (Guernsey)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

chai f (uncountable)

1. (France, Jersey) flesh

Borrowed from Classical Persian چای (čāy)

• Audio (Kenya)

  (file)

chai (n class, plural chai)

1. tea
2. (Tanzania) breakfast

   Synonyms: kiamsha kinywa, kifungua kinywa

3. (slang, Kenya) a small bribe, a petty bribe (likened to the cost, and function, of a cup of tea)

   Synonyms: rushwa, hongo, (Kenya) kitu kidogo

• chai ya rangi
• chai kavu
• mchai

• (Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA^(key): [caːj˧˧]
• (Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key): [caːj˦˥]

chai

1. bottle

   chai lẩu ― bottle of wine

Compare Thai เจ (jee).

chai

1. to fast

   chai tón nâng ― to fast for one meal

chai (⿻斋丷)

1. vegan, especially in the Buddhist style

   kin chai ― to go vegan

   否容易𫩒{⿻斋丷}地下

   Bấu doòng dỉ kin chai tỉ giả

   It's not easy to be a vegan on Earth.

2. in an ordinary, even lackluster, way

   kin khẩu chai ― to eat plain rice

3. old, specifically past something's developmental phase

   mảy khửn chai

   bamboo shoots that grow even when it's too old to grow

• Hoàng Văn Ma, Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Chí (2006) Từ điển Tày-Nùng-Việt [Tay-Nung-Vietnamese dictionary] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Từ điển Bách khoa Hà Nội
• Lương Bèn (2011) Từ điển Tày-Việt [Tay-Vietnamese dictionary]‎ (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên
• Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎ (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕaːj˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕaːj˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [caːj˧˧]
• Homophone: trai

(classifier cái) chai • (𥑂)

1. a bottle
2. (slang) one million dongs

   Synonym: củ

• → Tai Dam: ꪊꪱꪥ

chai

1. (of skin) callous

   vết chai ― a callus

   bị chai tay ― to have calluses on one's hand

   chai sạn ― callous; apathetic

2. (of a battery) spent

   pin bị chai rồi ― the battery's no good anymore (won't hold a charge)

• chia

• IPA^(key): [t͡ʃaj]

chai

1. Allomorph of tai used after words that end in i.
2. Allomorph of kwai used after words that end in i.