お茶

• 読み: おちゃ
• ローマ字: ocha
• 漢字の分解: 茶 (cha/sa) — tea
• 発音: /o.tɕa/

意味

Tea, especially green tea. The most common daily beverage in Japan.

Usually refers to green tea (緑茶) by default, but can also mean barley tea (麦茶) or other Japanese teas depending on context. The お prefix is honorific and almost always used — saying just 茶 sounds rough. Offering tea to guests is a fundamental part of Japanese hospitality.

例文

1. お茶を飲みませんか。
2. 食事の後にお茶を入れました。
3. 夏は冷たいお茶がおいしいです。

使い方ガイド

場面: daily life, hospitality, restaurants

トーン: polite

起源と歴史

From 茶 (cha), borrowed from Chinese. The お prefix is the Japanese honorific marker. Tea culture was introduced from China during the Nara period and became deeply embedded in Japanese daily life and ceremony.

文化的背景

時代: Nara period

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal