Etymologically
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tobacco

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /təˈbækəʊ/ (UK); /təˈbækoʊ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish tabaco,[2][3][4][5] traditionally from an Arawakan language of the Caribbean, probably Taino, in which it was said to mean a roll of tobacco leaves (Las Casas, 1552) or a pipe for smoking it.[3][2][5] According to Corominas, however, Italian tabacco and Spanish tabaco were used from about 1410, long before the discovery of America, for medicinal herbs, from Arabic طباق (ṭabbāq, “a name of various herbs”), attested from the 9th century, and the Spaniards may have transferred the name to the American plant.[2][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plant: 1577 in the OED;[8] the dried leaves for smoking, 1588 as tobaco.[2][8] MWU dates it to about 1565.[5]

Semantic evolution

The spelling tobacco is from 1597.[2] Another native name, petun, entered Spanish, French and English in the 17th century and survives in petunia.[3] Tobacco seed reached France in 1556.[3] Tobacconist first meant a tobacco smoker (1599, in Ben Jonson), and later a seller of tobacco.[2][4] A fashion shade of brown is from 1923.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1565 – first use (MWU).[5]
  • 1577 – the plant.[8]
  • 1588 – tobaco, the leaves.[2]
  • 1597 – the spelling tobacco.[2]
  • 1599 – tobacconist, a smoker.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The dried and cured leaves of a plant of the nightshade family, smoked in cigarettes, cigars or pipes, or chewed or taken as snuff.
  2. The plant itself, of the genus Nicotiana.

Word family

  • tobaccoless
  • antitobacco
  • tobacconist
  • tobacco budworm
  • tobacco juice
  • Tobacco Road
  • chewing tobacco
  • tobacco heart
  • cigar
  • nicotine
  • petunia
  • snuff

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press