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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

rooibos en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • roi′bôs′ (General-American)
  • /ˈɹu.iˌbɑs/ (General-American)
  • /ˈɹɔɪ.bɒs/ (General-South-African, Received-Pronunciation)
  • rōō′ē-bôs′ (General-American)
  • -bŏs′ (General-American)
  • /ˈɹɔɪˌbɔs/ (General-American)
  • (US) audio
  • /ˈɹu.iˌbɔs/ (General-American)
  • /ˈɹɔɪˌbɑs/ (General-American)

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Afrikaans rooibos (literally “redbush”), from Dutch rooi (“red”) + bos (“bush”). Compare related honeybush via Afrikaans heuningbos from heuning (“honey”) + bos (“bush”).

Meanings

  1. (South-Africa, uncountable) A shrub (Aspalathus linearis) from which a tisane (herbal tea) is made.
    • Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis, Fabaceae) is a plant that is indigenous only to the Cedarburg Mountain Range near Cape Town, South Africa. Wilson (2005, p140) notes that the mountain-dwelling people of the Khoikhoi were the first to use rooibos as a tea and, had it not been for them, rooibos would probably simply have remained an unutilized bush. The name ‘rooibos’ is an Afrikaans word meaning red bush for which the plant has been commonly known since at least the 1960s and probably back to the 1940s, and which is perceived as part of the country's heritage (Cheney and Scholtz, 1963). 2010, Daniel F. Robinson, “Non-patent Biopiracy Cases”, in Confronting Biopiracy: Challenges, Cases and International Debates, London; Washington, D.C.: Earthscan, →ISBN, page 89:
    • The air is aromatic with buchu (Rutaceae), pines, rooibos (Aspalathus linearis), and, of course, the cedars for which these mountains are named. 1980, Panoramic South Africa, Johannesburg: Central News Agency, →ISBN, page 41:
    • Love it or hate it, rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) is as much a part of this region as rock art, velskoen and stunning spring flowers. 2006, Karena Du Plessis, Vanessa Cowling, West Coast: Landscape, People, Food, Texture, Cape Town: Struik, →ISBN:
  2. (uncountable) The tisane (herbal tea) made from this plant.
    • During the past twenty years or so farmers in the Cedarberg region, from Citrusdal to Nieuwoudtville, have raised the rooibos tea industry from obscurity to minor boom. 1967, Commercial Opinion, volume 45, Cape Town: Association of Chambers of Commerce of South Africa, →OCLC, page 19:
    • When brewed, rooibos is a stunning orange-red color. 2006, Travis Arndorfer, Kristine Hansen, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Coffee and Tea, New York, N.Y.: Alpha Books, →ISBN, page 232:
    • The respondent obtained the registration of a trade mark for bush tea, one essential particular of which was the name of "Rooibosch" tea. Before the registration the same kind of tea had been known by several names one of them being Red bush tea, or in Dutch "Roodebosch" tea, and the appellants had sold similar tea under that appellation. 1909 October 28, “Heatlie Bros. and Others vs. Hartley”, in “Cape Times” Law Reports: A Record of Every Matter Disposed of in the Supreme Court, volume 19, Cape Town: Cape Times, published 1910, →OCLC, page 954:
    • Antioxidants are hot topics in the health news these days, and an herbal tea called rooibos (pronounced ROY-boss) is becoming popular partly because it is being marketed as a healthy beverage with high levels of antioxidants. The rooibos plant (Aspalathus linearis (Burm. f.) Dahlgren, Fabaceae) is a South African flowering shrub used to make a mild-tasting tea that has no caffeine, very little tannin, and significant amounts of polyphenol antioxidants. 2003, Laurie Erickson, “Rooibos Tea: Research into Antioxidant and Antimutagenic Properties”, in HerbalGram: The Journal of the American Botanical Council, number 59, archived from the original on 10 Aug 2009, page 34:
  3. (South-Africa, uncountable) Various shrubs of the genus Combretum.
    • Where the Hakdoorn (Acacia litakunensis Burch) and the Soetdoorn (Acacia Karoo) grow as the dominant trees we often find our sweetest pastures; and where Rooibos (Combretum holosericium and C. Zeyheri Sond), Sering (Burkea africana), wilde kweper (Androstachys Johnsonii), boekenhout (Faurea sagligna), and suikerbos (Protea abyssinica) grow, we more often have our poorest pastures of good value only in the early spring. 1932, A[ndrew] M[urray] Bosman, Cattle Farming in South Africa (South African Agricultural Series; 10), [Johannesburg]: Central News Agency, →OCLC, page 267:
    • The crest of the rim and the upper portion of both the outer and inner slopes are covered with a fairly thick growth of Rooibosch (Combretum holosericeum), and Bastard Rooibosch (Combretum apiculatum), accompanied by Dichrostachys nutans, Grewia occidentales, and isolated examples of Marula (Sclerocarya caffra) and Tambootie (Exoecaria africana); […] 1922, W[ilfrid] J[ohn] Wybergh, The Coal Resources of Union of South Africa (Union of South Africa, Department of Mines and Industries, Geological Survey. Memoir; no. 19), volumes I (The Coalfields of Witbank, Springs, and Heidelberg and of the Orange Free State), Pretoria: Government Printing and Stationery Office, →OCLC, page 163:
    • Bush Willow (Rooibos) (Combretum apiculatum). Rooibos occurs in most parts of the ranching areas of the northern, north-western and north-eastern Transvaal. 1942, Farming in South Africa, volume 17, Pretoria: Department of Agricultural Technical Services and Department of Agricultural Economics and Marketing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 234:
    • Thornveld (Acacia karroo) and Rooibos (Combretum apiculatum) veld. 1957, Rhodesia Agricultural Journal, volume 54, Salisbury [Harare]: Minister of Agriculture & Land, →OCLC, page 414:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
rooibosch alternative lexicographic

Coordinates

honeybush tea · honeybush

Hypernyms

red tea · bush tea

Synonyms

redbush · rooibos tea · redbush

Translations (31)

sv rött te (tea) · sv rooiboste (tea) · cmn 博士茶 (shrub) · ja ルイボス茶 (tea) · pl rooibos (shrub) · cmn 博士茶 (tea) · fi rooibostee (tea) · ja ルイボス (shrub) · hu rooibos (tea) · ca roibos (tea) · fr roïbos (shrub) · de Rooibos (shrub) · hu hojbus (tea) · nl rooibos (shrub) · ru ро́йбос (tea) · af rooibos (shrub) · ru ро́йбос (shrub) · hu vörös fokföldirekettye (shrub) · yue 博士茶 (shrub) · fr rooibos (shrub) · fr roïbos (tea) · fr rooibos (tea) · pl rooibos (tea) · fi rooibos (shrub) · af rooibos (tea) · nl rooibos (tea) · ko 루이보스 (shrub) · yue 博士茶 (tea) · fi rooibos (tea) · ca roibos (shrub) · de Rooibostee (tea)