rooibos

noun

roo·​i·​bos ˈrȯi-ˌbȯs 

ˈrü-ē-,

-ˌbäs 

1

: a small bush (Aspalathus linearis) of the legume family native to western South Africa that typically grows in nutrient-poor, sandy soils and has green, needlelike leaves and yellow flowers

Rooibos is an erect or straggling, slender-stemmed heath-like bush …

—Jacobus F. N. Smith et al.

2

or rooibos tea

a

: the dried leaves and young stems of the rooibos bush used especially in making herbal tea

Note: When subjected to oxidation during processing, the leaves and stems of the rooibos bush turn reddish-brown. Rooibos tea may be referred to as red rooibos when exposed to significant oxidation or green rooibos when exposed to minimal oxidation.

b

: an aromatic, slightly sweet, typically reddish-brown, herbal tea prepared from dried rooibos leaves and stems by steeping them in hot water

We each stocked up on some loose leaf tea and ordered some drinks—a vanilla rooibos latte with coconut milk and kombucha on tap.

—Allison Fong

Note: Rooibos tea is also known as red bush tea and red tea.

Examples of rooibos in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To test their hypothesis, the authors purchased Lipton and Infusions commercial tea bags, as well as a variety of loose-leaf teas and herbal alternatives: black tea, green tea, white peony tea, oolong tea, rooibos tea, and chamomile tea. —Ars Technica, 25 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Afrikaans (early Afrikaans rooibosch), from rooi "red" (going back to Dutch rode, inflected form of rood, going back to Middle Dutch rood, root) + bos "forest, bush, shrub," going back to Middle Dutch bosch, busch — more at red entry 1, bush entry 1

Note: Afrikaans rooi continues to be, with further loss of final schwa, the common spoken form of Dutch rode, with the intervocalic d unpronounced or replaced by a glide. Rooibos tea directly renders Afrikaans rooibostee.

First Known Use

1893, in the meaning defined at sense 1