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Etymology and origin of the French word tabac

tabac1 tobacco

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1555 Poleur's translation of Oviedo
Borrowed from
Spanish tabaco
Ultimate origin
Spanish tabaco
Etymology tree of tabac1
inherited borrowed derived
Spanish tabaco
English tobacco
French tabac
Italian tabacco

Pronunciation

Forms

tabac m (plural tabacs)[1]

Etymology

The word for tobacco is borrowed from Spanish tabaco.[2][3][4][5] It was first cited in French texts in 1555 as a native word of Haiti, for a two-pipe smoking instrument, then as a Spanish word for the plant (1590); the French form appears in 1599–1603.[2][3][4] The Spanish word, recorded from the first half of the 16th century for the plant and for a cigar, was borrowed from the Arawak of Cuba and Haiti.[2] According to Bloch and Wartburg, the Arawak word did not mean tobacco but a curved tube for inhaling the smoke, or a kind of cigar.[4] Rey and the Grand Robert trace it, through an alteration that is not well explained, to an Arawak word of Haiti, tsibatl;[3][6] Rey prefers this to the idea that the Spanish word renders the name of the island of Tobago, though the island's name may explain the alteration.[3][6]

The word spread worldwide: Italian tabacco, German Tabak, English tobacco.[4] In the 17th century the spelling ⟨tobac⟩ was also used, and it survives in northern dialects.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first cited in 1555, in Poleur's French translation of Oviedo's history of the Indies, as a native word of Haiti for an instrument with two pipes used for smoking.[2]

Semantic evolution

Naturalized shortly before 1600, the name of the plant competed for a time with herbe à Nicot and nicotiane, and in the 17th century it drove out pétun, taken from Portuguese in 1555.[3][4][2] By metonymy it named the dried leaves prepared for smoking, snuffing or chewing (1629, Saint-Amant).[2][3]

Un tabac was first a public place where people met to smoke and drink (1665), and later the shop that sells tobacco, also called bureau à tabac (1769, Rousseau) and bureau de tabac (1794).[2][3] The word is used of the colour of tobacco from 1733 and of its smell, and in the familiar c'est le même tabac “it's the same thing” (1871).[3][2]

Timeline

  • 1555 – Cited as a native word of Haiti in Poleur's translation of Oviedo.[2]
  • 1590 – Cited as a Spanish word for the plant.[2]
  • 1599 – The French form tabac is recorded.[4][6]
  • 1601–03 – Champlain writes tabac.[2]
  • 1629 – Saint-Amant uses it for the prepared leaves.[2][3]
  • 1665 – It names a public smoking and drinking room.[2][3]
  • 1666 – The derivative tabatière “snuffbox” appears.[4][3]
  • 1733 – It is used of the colour of tobacco.[3]
  • 1769 – Rousseau writes bureau à tabac.[2]
  • 1871 – C'est le même tabac “it's the same thing” is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The tobacco plant, Nicotiana tabacum.[8][9]
  2. Tobacco as a product, dried and prepared for smoking, snuffing or chewing: tabac à priser, tabac blond.[8][2]
  3. A tobacconist's, also bureau de tabac: Il achète son journal au tabac du coin.[2][3]
  4. (familiar) C'est le même tabac: it's the same thing.[3][2]

Adjective

  1. Of the brown colour of tobacco (invariable): une veste tabac.[3][2]

Word family

  • antitabac
  • bar-tabac
  • tabacologie
  • tabaculteur
  • tabagie
  • tabagique
  • tabagisme
  • tabatière

tabac2 beating, violent fight

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1802
Ultimate origin
French tabasser

Pronunciation

Forms

tabac m (plural tabacs)[1]

Etymology

The word for a beating is a slang term of 1802 that spread after 1850.[6][8][3] The Grand Robert derives it from French tabasser, spelled like tabac1 by homonymy and because a pinch of snuff could suggest a blow.[6][8] Rey sees a crossing of the family of that verb, built on a root ⟨tabb-⟩ “to strike” (Middle French tabuster (“to beat”), 1410), with the word for tobacco in the sense “a blow on the nose”, after the image of snuff rammed into the nose.[3] The TLFi describes the verb as a slang word from the dialects south of the Loire, formed on an onomatopoeic root, a variant of the one in taper.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as a slang word in 1802, for a fight or a volley of blows.[6][8][3]

Semantic evolution

Its main use is in phrases for a beating: foutre du tabac à quelqu'un (1829, Vidocq), repasser du tabac (1833) and passer à tabac (1879), with the noun passage à tabac.[3][8] Coup de tabac (1864) is a storm at sea, and faire un tabac “to be a hit” (about 1950) comes from the theatre slang avoir le gros tabac (1901), perhaps with reference to the blows of applauding hands.[3][8]

Timeline

  • 1802 – First recorded in slang for a fight.[6][8][3]
  • 1829 – Vidocq has foutre du tabac à quelqu'un.[3]
  • 1864 – Coup de tabac “storm” is recorded.[3][8]
  • 1879 – Passer à tabac is recorded.[3][8]
  • 1901 – Theatre slang has avoir le gros tabac.[3][8]
  • c. 1950 – Faire un tabac “to be a great success” appears.[3][8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (dated, familiar) A fight, a beating.[8][3]
  2. Passer quelqu'un à tabac: to beat up someone who cannot defend himself, also passage à tabac.[8][3]
  3. Coup de tabac: a storm, spell of bad weather at sea.[8][3]
  4. Faire un tabac: to be a great success: Son dernier album a fait un tabac.[8][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 20, 78a
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Tabac.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/tabac. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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