coffee
UK /ˈkɒfi/ · US /ˈkɑfi/ noun, adjective, verb, proper noun
Forms coffees coffeeing coffeed coffee'd
- noun (uncountable) A beverage made by infusing the beans of the coffee plant in hot water. “He and his friends used to order coffee whenever they went out.”
- noun (countable) A serving of this beverage.
- noun The seeds of the plant used to make coffee, called ‘beans’ due to their shape.
- noun The powder made by roasting and grinding the seeds.
- noun A tropical plant of the genus Coffea.
- noun A pale brown color, like that of milky coffee.
- noun The end of a meal, when coffee is served. “He did not stay for coffee.”
- adjective Of a pale brown colour, like that of milk coffee.
- adjective Of a table: a small, low table suitable for people in lounge seating to put coffee cups on.
- verb (intransitive) To drink coffee.
- verb (transitive) To give coffee to.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
color jamoke java joe coffee tree coffee bean coffee berry chocolate deep brown umber burnt umber
Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch koffie, from Italian caffè, from Ottoman Turkish قهوه (kahve), from Arabic قَهْوَة (qahwa). Doublet of café and caffè and cognate with the words for "coffee" in other major European languages, most of which are derived from the Turkish and Italian words.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The "beans" or "berries" (pyrenes) obtained from the drupes of a small evergreen tree of the genus Coffea, growing in Abyssinia, Arabia, Persia, and other warm regions of Asia and Africa, and also in tropical America.
- noun The coffee tree.
Etymology [Turk. qahveh, Ar. qahuah wine, coffee, a decoction of berries. Cf. Café.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “coffee”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details