teapoy

English

WOTD – 15 August 2022

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”). Doublet of tripod and tripus.

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.

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:
Hokkien: 茶桌仔 (tê-toh-á, têe-toh-á) (Zhangzhou Hokkien)

Mandarin: 茶几 (zh) (chájī, chájǐ)
Hindi: तिपाई (hi) (tipāī)
Kannada: ಟೀಪಾಯಿ (ṭīpāyi)