tobacco English · revision 6920

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1565|origins=es tabaco}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /təˈbækəʊ/ ''(UK)''; /təˈbækoʊ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|tabaco]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) 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.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) 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 [[m|ar|طباق|tr=ṭabbāq|t=a name of various herbs]], attested from the 9th century, and the Spaniards may have transferred the name to the American plant.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The plant: 1577 in the OED;^(OED 1989) the dried leaves for smoking, 1588 as tobaco.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) MWU dates it to about 1565.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The spelling tobacco is from 1597.^(Barnhart 1988) Another native name, petun, entered Spanish, French and English in the 17th century and survives in [[petunia]].^(Etymonline) Tobacco seed reached France in 1556.^(Etymonline) [[tobacconist|alt=Tobacconist]] first meant a tobacco smoker (1599, in Ben Jonson), and later a seller of tobacco.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) A fashion shade of brown is from 1923.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1565 – first use (MWU).^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1577 – the plant.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1588 – tobaco, the leaves.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1597 – the spelling tobacco.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1599 – tobacconist, a smoker.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The dried and cured leaves of a plant of the [[nightshade]] family, smoked in cigarettes, cigars or pipes, or chewed or taken as [[snuff]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The plant itself, of the genus ''Nicotiana''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tobaccoless]]

+ * [[antitobacco]]

+ * [[tobacconist]]

+ * [[tobacco budworm]]

+ * [[tobacco juice]]

+ * [[Tobacco Road]]

+ * [[chewing tobacco]]

+ * [[tobacco heart]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cigar]]

+ * [[nicotine]]

+ * [[petunia]]

+ * [[snuff]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}