Borrowed from Romani ćhaj (“Romani girl, daughter”).

chai (plural chais)

1. A female gypsy.

   Coordinate term: chal

• chie (obsolete)

From Hindustani चाय / چائے (cāy, “tea”), from Classical Persian چَای (čāy) (and Turkish çay, and cognates) from Sinitic 茶 (chá). Doublet of tea; see that page for extended history.

• enPR: chī, IPA^(key): /t͡ʃaɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Homophone: Chi (Chichester)
• 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.

2. (India) Any tea beverage, but especially milk tea, regardless of whether it is spiced.
   • 2010 November 1, Jovan Jones, Dancing with the Avatar, Destiny Image Publishers, →ISBN:

     We were drinking some chai — the ashram version — watered down, boring, no spices, lots of water, just a smidgen of tea and even less milk.

   • 2016 July 1, Naeem Inayatullah, Elizabeth Dauphinee, Narrative Global Politics: Theory, History and the Personal in International Relations, Routledge, →ISBN, page 182:

     I fix myself a cup of chai - slightly strong black tea with just a touch of hot milk and no spices... the kind that Babuji would have liked on a morning like this — and sipping my chai, I walk barefoot on the moist grass in the backyard

   • 2018 October 9, Manali Singh, Vegetarian Indian Cooking with Your Instant Pot: 75 Traditional Recipes That Are Easier, Quicker and Healthier, Page Street Publishing, →ISBN:

     Everyone has a personal preference when it comes to chai - some people do not like any spices in their chai (just plain milk, water and tea) while others (like me!) cannot have their chai without spices.

• chai latte, chai tea, masala chai

• cha
• chai latte
• masala chai

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

• IPA^(key): /xaɪ/

chai

2. (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 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.

   • 2024, David Golinkin, quoting David Touboul, “Are Thee Ways Of Hidinng A Mezuzah In Times Of Danger?”, in Responsa in a Moment, volume 4, page 207:

     Here in France, anti-Semitism is on the rise, and many Jews are hiding their identity in public so as not to be harmed. From what I hear and read, men and women are hiding their jewelry such as the Star of David or Chai, they do not speak about Israel loudly in the street, or men hide their kippah with a hat.

• Chai, Hai, hai

Borrowed from French chai, from Occitan.

• IPA^(key): /ʃɛ/

chai (plural chais)

2. (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

• chai poh

• achi, Achi, Chia, AHCI, 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.

From older chay, from tsay, from tisoy.

chai

1. (colloquial) feminine of chuy.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtsɑi̯/,
• Rhymes: -ɑi
• Syllabification^(key): chai
• Hyphenation^(key): chai

chai (colloquial)

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

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

• chaï, tchaï

• IPA^(key): /tʃaj/

chai m (plural chais)

1. masala chai (a tea drink)

Borrowed from Occitan .

• 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 , 2012.

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.

Likely from English carry. Compare Sranan Tongo tyari, Aukan tyai, Saramaccan tja, Jamaican Creole kyari.

chai

1. to carry
   • 1983, Kenneth M. Bilby, “How the "older heads" talk: a Jamaican Maroon spirit possession language and its relationship to the creoles of Suriname and Sierra Leone”, in New West Indian Guide, →ISSN, page 48:

     sumte tere nait, wen di suma kõ na pre, den suma waka o pas anda pre, suma o pas anda pre, o kisõ dat sonti so, chai dat sonti so, put na da sonti na yu no.

     Sometime tonight, when the person came to the place, then the person walked and passed that place, the person passed that place, he took that thing so, carried that thing so, put that thing by you now.

• IPA^(key):

-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. (continental, Jersey) flesh

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qahəlu (“pestle”). Compare Malay alu (“pestle”).

chai

1. pestle

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *qalu (“barracuda”). Compare Malay alu-alu (“barracuda”).

chai

1. barracuda

• chai in Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary, at tekinged.com.
• chai in Palauan-English Dictionary, at trussel2.com.
• chai in Lewis S. Josephs, Edwin G. McManus, Masa-aki Emesiochel (1977) Palauan-English Dictionary, University Press of Hawaii, →ISBN, page 34.

Swahili Wikipedia has an article on:

chai

Wikipedia ^sw

Borrowed from Classical Persian چای (čāy)

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

chai class IX (plural chai class X)

1. tea
2. (Tanzania) breakfast

   Synonyms: chakula cha asubuhi, staftahi, (Kenya) kiamsha kinywa, (Tanzania) kifungua kinywa

3. (slang, Kenya) tea money, small bribe, 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):
• (Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key):

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 (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Từ điển Bách khoa Hà Nội
• Lương Bèn (2011) Từ điển Tày-Việt ‎ (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 ‎ (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key):
• (Huế) IPA^(key):
• (Saigon) IPA^(key):
• Homophone: trai

(classifier cái) chai • (𥑂)

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

   Synonym: củ

• → Eastern Mnong: čai
• → 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):

chai

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