smoke English · revision 4024

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=ine-pro *smeug-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /sməʊk/, US /smoʊk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|smoke]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|smoca|t=smoke]] (rare),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to [[m|ang|smēocan|t=to give off smoke]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*smuk-]],^(Etymonline) the source also of Dutch smook, Middle High German smouch and German Schmauch,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*smeug-|t=to smoke; smoke]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the root also of Armenian mux, Greek smýkhein “to smoulder”, Welsh mwg “smoke” and Lithuanian smáugti “to choke”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The verb is Old English smocian, from the noun.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The more usual Old English noun was smēc, which became dialectal smeech.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The visible fumes from burning substances: about 1000 in the OED,^(OED 1989) late Old English in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A puff, cloud or column of smoke is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Figuratively, of something unsubstantial, it is from the 1540s, and an obscuring medium from the 1560s.^(Etymonline) The proverb ''no fire without smoke'' dates from the mid-15th century.^(Etymonline) The verb “to drive out with smoke” and “to cure bacon or fish in smoke” are from the 1590s.^(Etymonline) Of tobacco, the verb is first recorded in 1604, in James I's Counterblast to Tobacco,^(Etymonline) when one could also be said to drink tobacco.^(Cresswell 2021) A spell of smoking is from 1835 and a cigarette from 1882.^(Etymonline) ''The Smoke'' or ''the Big Smoke'', for a city, especially London, is from 1848,^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) ''go up in smoke'' from 1933,^(Etymonline) and the ''smoke-filled room'' of American politics was popularized in the 1920 presidential election.^(Etymonline) A ''smoking gun'', incriminating evidence, came to prominence in the Watergate scandal.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – fumes from burning.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – a puff of smoke.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1540s – something unsubstantial.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – verb, to cure in smoke.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1604 – to smoke tobacco.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1848 – ''the Smoke''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1882 – a cigarette.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1933 – ''go up in smoke''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The cloud of particles and gases given off by burning material.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Something like smoke; a haze or mist.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Something insubstantial or obscuring.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An act of smoking tobacco, or a cigarette.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To draw in and blow out the smoke of a [[cigarette]], cigar or pipe, especially habitually.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To give off smoke.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To preserve meat or fish by exposing it to smoke.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To drive out by smoke: ''smoke out''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[smokable]]

+ * [[smokeless]]

+ * [[smokelike]]

+ * [[chain-smoke]]

+ * [[smoker]]

+ * [[smoking]]

+ * [[smoke out]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[smog]]

+ * [[smoko]]

+ * [[smoky quartz]]

+ * [[smoky]]

+ * [[smoulder]]

+ * [[reek]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}