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kom·bu·cha

(kŏm′bchä′)

A lightly sparkling beverage made by fermenting black or green tea and sugar with a culture of various bacteria and yeasts.

[Probably from Japanese kombucha, tea made from kombu (the Japanese word perhaps being used by English speakers to designate fermented tea due to confusion or because the thick gelatinous film produced by the kombucha culture was thought to resemble seaweed) : kombu, kombu; see KOMBU + cha, tea; see CHANOYU.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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