Cha \Cha\ (ch[aum]), n. [Chin. ch`a.]

[Also chaa, chais, tsia, etc.]

Tea; -- the Chinese (Mandarin) name, used generally in early works of travel, and now for a kind of rolled tea used in Central Asia.

A pot with hot water . . . made with the powder of a certain herb called chaa, which is much esteemed. --Tr. J. Van Linschoten's Voyages (1598).

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)