thai

thai — adjective

1. coming from or connected with the Southeast Asian country of Thailand — used for

1.adjectiveA1
Definition

coming from or connected with the Southeast Asian country of Thailand — used for people, food, language, culture, customs, or products that originate there.

Example

Devika's family runs a small Thai restaurant near the main market.

collocation: Thai restaurant

Cyrus bought a Thai silk scarf at a night market in Chiang Mai.

collocation: Thai silk

Common collocations
  • Thai food
  • Thai culture
  • Thai language
  • Thai people
  • Thai cuisine
  • Thai massage
  • Thai restaurant
  • Thai boxing
  • Thai silk
  • Thai curry
Synonyms
  • Siamese

    older, dated term from the former name Siam; now used mainly for cat breeds or historical contexts

Grammar Patterns

Thai + noun

Usage Note

Always used before a noun. Do not confuse with the country name 'Thailand': 'Thai food' ✓ ; 'Thailand food' ✗.

Common Mistakes

I love Thailand food.
I love Thai food.
the adjective for things from the country is 'Thai', not 'Thailand'.
She ordered a Thai.' (when referring to food, not a person).
She ordered a Thai dish.
'Thai' alone as a noun means a person, not food.

thai — noun

Word family

  • Thailand
    proper nounA1
  • Siamese
    adjectiveC1
  • Siamese
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

Thai is the modern, standard term for anything related to Thailand — its people, language, food, and culture. Siamese is an older word that comes from Siam, the country's name before 1939. Today Siamese sounds dated for people or culture, and it mainly survives in two fixed expressions: 'Siamese cat' (a breed from Thailand) and 'Siamese twins' (conjoined twins, from the famous pair Chang and Eng Bunker, who were Thai-born). In almost all modern contexts, Thai is the correct and natural choice, while Siamese may confuse or sound old-fashioned.

Thai ↗Siamese

Common collocations

Nouns

  • Thai food
  • Thai people
  • Thai culture
  • Thai language
  • Thai restaurant
  • Thai massage

Phrases

  • speak Thai
  • written in Thai

Prepositions

  • in Thai
  • from Thailand

Etymology

Tai (Thai)English

The word Thai comes from the Thai word 'tai' (ไทย), which means 'free' or 'free people'. The country was historically known in English as Siam until 1939, when its official name was changed to Thailand (Prathet Thai, ประเทศไทย), literally meaning 'land of the free'. The ethnic group and their language then came to be called Thai in English, replacing the older term Siamese.