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Added 10 October 2026

tobacco

/təˈbækəʊ/ noun

In Latin: tabacum Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about tobacco at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Any plant of the genus Nicotiana.
Leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and some other species cultivated and harvested to make cigarettes, cigars, snuff, for smoking in pipes or for chewing.
A variety of tobacco.
Tobaccos from the Connecticut Valley were used for wrapping cigars.

verb

To indulge in tobacco; to smoke.
To treat with tobacco.

Origin

Attested since 1588, borrowed from Spanish tabaco. The Spanish word could be from Arabic طُبَّاق (ṭubbāq, “Dittrichia viscosa”) or from a Caribbean language such as Kari'na or Taíno or multiple of them, from a word meaning "roll of tobacco leaves" or "a pipe for smoking tobacco," such as tabago (“tube for inhaling smoke or powdered intoxicating plants”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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