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oolong-tea

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Detailed reference entry for the English word "oolong-tea", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "oolong-tea" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "oolong-tea" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

The verdict

“oolong tea” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun — the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

Dominant Wiktionary sense: A type of tea with a taste in between green tea and black tea.

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Key facts for oolong tea
PropertyValue
Headwordoolong tea
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈuː.lʊŋ tʰi/
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “oolong tea” sits in English frequency

oolong tea falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words — the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for oolong tea is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈuː.lʊŋ tʰi/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A type of tea with a taste in between green tea and black tea.".

No misspelling variants are generated for oolong tea in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Either a partial calque of Mandarin 烏龍茶 /乌龙茶 (wūlóngchá), or directly from Hokkien 烏龍茶 /乌龙茶 (o͘-liông-tê), from 烏龍 /乌龙 (o͘-liông, literally “black dragon”) + 茶 (tê, “tea”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is oolong tea, spelled O-O-L-O-N-G- -T-E-A, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A type of tea with a taste in between green tea and black tea.

Etymology

Either a partial calque of Mandarin 烏龍茶 /乌龙茶 (wūlóngchá), or directly from Hokkien 烏龍茶 /乌龙茶 (o͘-liông-tê), from 烏龍 /乌龙 (o͘-liông, literally “black dragon”) + 茶 (tê, “tea”).

This word in other languages

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "oolong tea"?
"oolong tea" is spelled O-O-L-O-N-G- -T-E-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈuː.lʊŋ tʰi/.
What does "oolong tea" mean?
As a noun, "oolong tea" means: A type of tea with a taste in between green tea and black tea.
How do you pronounce "oolong tea"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "oolong tea" is /ˈuː.lʊŋ tʰi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "oolong tea"?
Either a partial calque of Mandarin 烏龍茶 /乌龙茶 (wūlóngchá), or directly from Hokkien 烏龍茶 /乌龙茶 (o͘-liông-tê), from 烏龍 /乌龙 (o͘-liông, literally “black dragon”) + 茶 (tê, “tea”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “oolong tea”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is O-O-L-O-N-G- -T-E-A — every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈuː.lʊŋ tʰi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter O in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.