theiform

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

theiform (THE-uh-form) - adj., having the form of tea.


Yes, really. Adopted from French from Late Latin thea, tea + -form, but I can't at the moment dig up when. It can also mean having the form of the tea plant, but that seems to be a less-used sense -- insofar as this is still used today. And to be honest, I can think of only one possible use:

Arthur Dent stared into the cup at a liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely anti-theiform.

Related trivia: caffeine was first extracted from coffee by a German chemist, who named it that from German kaffee, coffee. A little later, a similar substance was extracted from tea by a french chemist, who called it theine from French thea. It was only later that the two were proved to be identical. But think of the possible alternate histories ...

---L.

Comments

[amita-serpens.livejournal.com]

Wow, that has to be the best example of usage ever!

[thorintatge.livejournal.com]

Shouldn't it be 'untheiform'...or possibly 'atheiform'? 'Anti' isn't used with adjectives.

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

It isn't? I can think of a few examples that sound fine to my ear -- "anti-gay," for example: the quality of being opposed to homosexuals.

"Anti-" is probably not the best prefix here, though -- it was the only one I could think of that sounded both at least somewhat acceptable and clear.

---L.

[jesuslovesbono.livejournal.com]

Just out of curiosity, is that actually in any of the Hitchhiker's Guide books?

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

:-)

Nope -- replace "anti-theiform" with "unlike tea".

---L.