Etymologically
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smoker

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:56. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • US: /ˈsmoʊkɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English smoke + -er.[2][3][4][5] The verb smoke is from Old English smocian, from smoca (“smoke”).[3][2] The OED compares Dutch smoker, Middle Low German smoker and Danish smøger.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who cures fish, bacon and the like with smoke: 1599, in Thomas Nashe's Lenten Stuffe.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The tobacco sense followed soon after the spread of tobacco smoking: the OED's first record is from 1617, in Brathwait's Smoaking Age, and Etymonline dates it to the 1610s.[2][3] Johnson (1755) gave both senses, "one that dries or perfumes by smoke" and "one that uses tobacco".[5] From the late 17th century the word was used of things that give off smoke: a warship that hid operations behind smoke (1699–1811), a steamer (1825), a smoky chimney or locomotive (1883) and a device for calming bees (1875).[2] A railway carriage for smokers is recorded from 1875 in American English according to Etymonline, from 1882 in the OED.[3][2] Gatherings where smoking was allowed gave a concert (1887) and, in the United States, an informal social evening for men (1899).[2] Smoker's cough dates from 1888 in the OED, 1898 in Etymonline.[2][3] In Norfolk dialect a smoker was a heavy rain squall.[7]

Timeline

  • 1599 – a person who cures food with smoke.[2]
  • 1617 – a person who smokes tobacco.[2]
  • 1699 – a warship that discharges smoke (obsolete by 1811).[2]
  • 1875 – a device for smoking bees.[2]
  • 1875 – a railway smoking car (American English).[3]
  • 1887 – a concert at which smoking is allowed.[2]
  • 1888 – smoker's cough.[2]
  • 1899 – an informal social gathering for men (US).[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who habitually smokes tobacco: She has been a heavy smoker since college.[8][6][4]
  2. A person who cures or preserves food by smoking it.[6][4][2]
  3. A railway carriage or compartment in which smoking is allowed.[8][6][2]
  4. An informal social gathering, especially of men.[8][6][2]
  5. A device that blows smoke at bees to calm them.[6][2]
  6. A vent on the ocean floor from which hot, mineral-laden water erupts.[8]

Word family

  • black smoker
  • smoker's cough

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins