茶匙 (chá chí) literally means 'tea spoon' — combining 茶 (chá), meaning 'tea', and 匙 (chí), meaning 'spoon'. Though its name references tea, it is not used exclusively for tea; rather, it refers to the standard small spoon used for stirring hot drinks, measuring ingredients in cooking or baking, or serving small portions. In everyday Chinese contexts, 茶匙 functions as a unit of volume, equivalent to about 5 milliliters — similar to the English 'teaspoon'. It’s commonly seen on food packaging, recipes, and kitchenware labels.

Unlike Western usage where 'teaspoon' may refer both to the utensil and the measurement, 茶匙 in Chinese almost always denotes the measurement unit in formal or written contexts (e.g., recipes), though it can also refer to the physical spoon in casual speech. It’s distinct from 汤匙 (tāng chí, tablespoon) and 勺子 (sháo zi, general term for spoon), and is rarely used metaphorically or idiomatically.