teapoy
Originally, a three-legged decorative stand or table; now, especially, one with recesses for holding tea caddies and/or a tea service.
“They're like the teapoys in the Lakka Bazar — good material but not polished.”
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Hindi तिपाई (tipāī), Urdu تپائی (tipāi, “teapoy”), from a merger of Sanskrit त्रिपाद (tripāda, “tripod”) + Classical Persian سه پای (sih-pāy, “tripod”), with the spelling of the first element influenced by association with tea. Sanskrit त्रि (tri, “three”), the first element of त्रिपाद (tripāda), is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”); while Classical Persian پای (pây, “foot”), the second element of سه پای, is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds (“foot”), from *ped- (“to step; to walk; to fall; to stumble”). Doublet of tripod, tripus, and tripos.
Adapted from the Wiktionary entry teapoy (CC BY-SA 4.0).