tobacco

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The dried leaves of the tobacco plant, prepared for smoking or chewing.

   He gave up tobacco after years of smoking a pipe.

2. 2
   noun

   The plant that this leaf comes from, grown as a crop.

   Farmers in the valley have grown tobacco for generations.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Tobacco entered English in the mid-16th century from Spanish tabaco, but the Spanish word's earlier origin is uncertain. It has been linked either to a Carib word for a tobacco pipe or to a Taino word for a primitive cigar. Another possibility is influence from Arabic tabbaq, a name for various herbs, perhaps combined by Spanish speakers with Indigenous American terms.

Attested since 1588, borrowed from Spanish tabaco. The Spanish word could be from Arabic طُبَّاق (ṭubbāq, “Dittrichia viscosa”) or from a Caribbean language such as Kari'na or Taíno or multiple of them, from a word meaning "roll of tobacco leaves" or "a pipe for smoking tobacco," such as tabago (“tube for inhaling smoke or powdered intoxicating plants”).

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
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