tisane

English

tisane

Alternative forms

• ptisan, ptisane, tisan

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman tysanne, Middle French ptisane, tisane (“barley water, medicinal drink”), and their source, Latin tisana, variant of ptisana, from Ancient Greek πτισάνη (ptisánē, “peeled barley, barley gruel”), from πτίσσειν (ptíssein, “to peel, to crush”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /tɪˈzæn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /tɪˈzæn/, /tɪˈzɑn/

Noun

tisane (plural tisanes)

1. A medicinal drink, originally made from barley soaked in water. [from 14th c.]

   Synonym: herbal tea

   • 1831, Alexander Macaulay, A dictionary of medicine, designed for popular use‎^[1], 2nd edition, page 454:

     Ptisan. A diluent drink which makes a great figure in the dietetic precepts of the ancients.

   • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 57:

     Towards the end of the week the girls complained of violent headaches and restless nights; and before Monday it was very obvious that they were all in a high fever. Tuesday Isabella was delirious, and Mademoiselle Virginie sent the maid to Covent Garden to buy some herbs, which, she said, would form a sovereign tisane.

   • 1928, Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train:

     “Neither,” said Poirot, “I shall go to bed and take a tisane. The expected has happened […].”

   • 1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society, published 2010, page 5:

     The sick people would take away also some herbs for their ptisan, some wine and other comforts […].

   • 1993, Will Self, My Idea of Fun:

     As soon as he had opened the door he worked his way back to his high-backed Queen Anne armchair, where he picked up his bone-china cup and took a sip of a rarefied tisane.

Translations

herbal tea — see herbal tea

Further reading

• herbal tea on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• anties, Setian, seatin', Anstie, sentai, tineas, satiné, Eastin, seitan, teasin', tenias, staine, Teians, eatin's

French

un mélange de tisane

Etymology

From Latin tisana, ptisana, from Ancient Greek πτισάνη (ptisánē, “peeled barley, barley gruel”), related to πτίσσειν (ptíssein, “to peel”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ti.zan/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

tisane f (plural tisanes)

1. herbal tea; tisane

   Synonym: infusion

   Cette tisane est très chaude. ― This herbal tea is very hot.

   une tisane à la menthe ― peppermint tea

2. (colloquial, dated) beating, pounding, thrashing

Related terms

• tisaneur

Further reading

• tisane on the French Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^fr
• “tisane” in Émile Littré, Dictionnaire de la langue française, 1872–1877.
• “tisane”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• entais, niâtes, sainte, seinât, tenais

Italian

Noun

tisane f

1. plural of tisana

Anagrams

• antesi, asteni, astine, entasi, intesa, nastie, seitan, senati, setina, tesina