tobacco

English

Tobacco plant

Alternative forms

tabacco (obsolete)

Etymology

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 Galibi Carib or Taíno or multiple of them, from a word meaning "roll of tobacco leaves"[1] or "a pipe for smoking tobacco," such as tabago (“tube for inhaling smoke or powdered intoxicating plants”).[2]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /təˈbæk.əʊ/
(US) IPA^(key): /təˈbæk.oʊ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ækəʊ

Noun

tobacco (countable and uncountable, plural tobaccos or tobaccoes)

(uncountable) Any plant of the genus Nicotiana.
(uncountable) Leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and some other species cultivated and harvested to make cigarettes, cigars, snuff, for smoking in pipes or for chewing.
- 2013 September 7, “Unlucky strike”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8852:
  Tobacco-settlement bonds are a tribute both to the inventiveness of bankers and the childlike impatience of politicians.
(countable) A variety of tobacco.
Tobaccos from the Connecticut Valley were used for wrapping cigars.

Derived terms

occabot (back slang)
tree tobacco (Nicotiana glauca)

Translations

any plant of the genus Nicotiana

Abenaki: wdamô
Acehnese: bakông
Albanian: duhan (sq) m
Amharic: ትምባሆ (təmbaho), ትንባሆ (tənbaho)
Arabic: تِبْغ‎ m (tibḡ), تَبْغ‎ m (tabḡ), دُخَان‎ m (duḵān), دُخَّان‎ m (duḵḵān), تُمْبَك‎ m (tumbak)
Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: ծխախոտ (hy) (cxaxot)
Assamese: ধঁপাত (dhõpat)
Asturian: tabacu m
Avar: тамахьо (tamax̂o)
Azerbaijani: tütün (az), tənbəki
Bashkir: тәмәке (tämäke)
Belarusian: ты́тунь m (týtunʹ)
Bengali: তামাক (tamak)
Breton: butun (br) m
Bulgarian: тютю́н (bg) m (tjutjún)
Burmese: ဆေး (my) (hce:)
Buryat: тамхи (tamxi)
Cahuilla: pivat
Catalan: tabac (ca) m
Catawba: umpa
Central Melanau: tebakau
Chechen: тонка (tonka)
Cherokee: ᏦᎳ (tsola)
Chichewa: fodya
Chickasaw: chomak
Chinese:
Cantonese: 煙草, 烟草 (jin¹ cou²)
Dungan: хуон-ян (huon-i͡an), хан-ян (han-i͡an)
Mandarin: 煙草／烟草 (zh) (yāncǎo)
Min Nan: 薰草 (zh-min-nan) (hun-chháu), 煙草, 烟草 (ian-chháu)
Teochew: 薰草 (hung1 cao2)
Wu: 煙草, 烟草 (i tshau)
Coptic: ⲭⲣⲉⲙⲧⲥ (khremts)
Corsican: tabaccu m, tavaccu m
Crimean Tatar: tütün
Czech: tabák (cs) m
Danish: tobak (da) c
Dutch: tabak (nl) m, tabaksplant (nl) f
Esperanto: tabako
Estonian: tubakas (et)
Extremaduran: please add this translation if you can
Faroese: tubbak n
Finnish: tupakka (fi), tupakkakasvi
French: tabac (fr) m
Friulian: tabac m
Galician: tabaco (gl) m
German: Tabak (de) m, Tabakpflanze (de) f
Greek: καπνός (el) m (kapnós), νικοτιανή f (nikotianí)
Guaraní: petỹ
Gujarati: તમાકુ (tamāku)
Hebrew: טַבָּק‎ (he) m (tabak)
Hindi: तम्बाकू (hi) m (tambākū)
Hungarian: dohány (hu)
Iban: semakau
Icelandic: tóbak (is) n
Indonesian: tembakau (id)
Irish: tobac m
Italian: tabacco (it) m
Japanese: タバコ (ja) (tabako), たばこ (ja) (tabako), 煙草 (ja) (たばこ, tabako, えんそう, ensō)
Javanese: mbako, tembako (jv), sata
Kalmyk: тәмк (tämk)
Kannada: ತಂಬಾಕು (kn) (tambāku)
Kazakh: темекі (kk) (temekı)
Khmer: ថ្នាំជក់ (thnam cŭək)
Korean: 담배 (ko) (dambae), 연초(煙草) (ko) (yeoncho)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: tûtin (ku)
Kyrgyz: тамеки (ky) (tameki)
Lao: ຢາສູບ (lo) (yā sūp)
Latvian: tabaka f
Leonese: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: tabakas m
Lombard: tabach (lmo) m
Luxembourgish: Tubak m
Macedonian: тутун m (tutun)
Malay: tembakau
Malayalam: പുകയില (ml) (pukayila)
Maltese: tabakk m
Manchu: ᡩᠠᠮᠪᠠᡤᡠ (dambagu)
Mansaka: tabako
Maori: tōrori, tupeka
Marathi: तंबाखू (tambākhū)
Mauritian Creole: taba
Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
Mohegan-Pequot: inahpáwôk
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: тамхи (mn) (tamxi)
Nahuatl: piciyetl (nah)
Nanai: дамахи
Navajo: nátʼoh
Neapolitan: tabbacco m
Nepali: तमाखु m (tamākhu), सुर्ती (surtī)
Nivkh: тамх (tamx)
Northern Sami: duhpát
Norwegian:
Bokmål: tobakk m
Nynorsk: tobakk m
Occitan: tabat (oc) m
Ojibwe: asemaa
Oriya: ତମାଖୁ (or) (tômakhu)
Ossetian: тамако (tamako)
Ottoman Turkish: توتون‎ (tütün)
Pashto: تنباکو‎ m (tanbākú), تمباکو‎ (ps) m (tambākú)
Persian: تنباکو‎ (fa) (tanbâku), توتون‎ (fa) (tutun)
Piedmontese: tabach m
Polish: tytoń (pl) m
Portuguese: tabaco (pt) m
Punjabi: ਤਮਾਕੂ (tamākū)
Romagnol: tabàc m
Romanian: tutun (ro) m
Russian: таба́к (ru) m (tabák)
Sanskrit: तमाखु m (tamākhu), कलञ्ज (sa) m (kalañja), तमाल (sa) m (tamāla)
Scottish Gaelic: tombaca m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ду̀ха̄н m (Bosnian, Croatian), ду̀ва̄н m (Serbian)
Roman: dùhān (sh) m (Bosnian, Croatian), dùvān (sh) m (Serbian)
Seychellois Creole: taba
Sicilian: please add this translation if you can
Simeulue: please add this translation if you can
Sinhalese: දුම්කොළ (si) (dumkoḷa)
Slovak: tabak (sk) m
Slovene: tobak (sl) m
Somali: buuri
Spanish: tabaco (es) m
Swahili: mtumbaku
Swedish: tobak (sv) c
Tabasaran: тембеку (tembeku)
Tajik: тамоку (tamoku)
Tamil: புகையிலை (ta) (pukaiyilai)
Taos: łáne
Tatar: төтен (tt) (töten), тәмәке (tt) (tämäke)
Telugu: పొగాకు (te) (pogāku)
Thai: ยาสูบ (th) (yaa-sùup), บุหรี่ (th) (bù-rìi)
Tibetan: ཐ་མག (tha mag), བཞེས་ཐག (bzhes thag) (honorific)
Tigrinya: ትምባኾ (təmbaxo)
Turkish: tütün (tr)
Turkmen: temmäki
Ukrainian: тютю́н (uk) m (tjutjún)
Unami: kwshatay
Urdu: تمباکو‎ m (tambākū)
Uyghur: تاماكا‎ (tamaka)
Uzbek: tamaki (uz)
Vietnamese: thuốc lá (vi)
Volapük: tabak (vo)
Walloon: please add this translation if you can
Welsh: tybaco (cy) m
Yiddish: טאַבאַק‎ m (tabak)
Zhuang: ien, ienmbaw
ǃXóõ: gǂkxʻàna

leaves of certain varieties of tobacco plant

Afrikaans: tabak
Albanian: duhan (sq) m
Amharic: ትምባሆ (təmbaho)
Arabic: تَبْغ‎ m (tabḡ), تَبَغ‎ m (tabaḡ)
Armenian: ծխախոտ (hy) (cxaxot), ծխախոտաբույս (cxaxotabuys)
Asturian: tabacu m
Azerbaijani: tütün (az)
Bashkir: тәмәке (tämäke)
Belarusian: ты́тунь m (týtunʹ)
Bengali: তামাক (tamak)
Bulgarian: тютю́н (bg) m (tjutjún)
Burmese: ဆေး (my) (hce:)
Catalan: tabac (ca) m
Chamicuro: polojti
Cherokee: ᏦᎳ (tsola)
Chichewa: fodya
Chinese:
Mandarin: 煙草／烟草 (zh) (yāncǎo), 煙葉／烟叶 (zh) (yānyè)
Coptic: ⲭⲣⲉⲙⲧⲥ (khremts)
Crimean Tatar: tütün
Czech: tabák (cs) m
Danish: tobak (da) c
Dutch: tabak (nl) m
Esperanto: tabako
Estonian: tubakas (et)
Faroese: tubbak n
Finnish: tupakka (fi)
French: tabac (fr) m
Galician: tabaco (gl) m
Georgian: თამბაქო (tambako)
German: Tabak (de) m
Greek: καπνός (el) m (kapnós)
Guajá: mɨtɨ́
Guaraní: petỹ
Gujarati: તમાકુ (tamāku)
Hausa: antusko, asara
Hebrew: טַבָּק‎ (he) m (tabak)
Hindi: तंबाकू (hi) m (tambākū)
Hungarian: dohány (hu)
Icelandic: tóbak (is)
Indonesian: tembakau (id)
Irish: tobac m
Isthmus Zapotec: gueza
Italian: tabacco (it) m
Japanese: タバコ (ja) (tabako), たばこ (ja) (tabako), 煙草 (ja) (たばこ, tabako, えんそう, ensō)
Javanese: tembako (jv), sata
Kalmyk: тәмк (tämk)
Kannada: ತಂಬಾಕು (kn) (tambāku)
Kayapó: karinhô
Kazakh: темекі (kk) (temekı)
Khmer: ថ្នាំជក់ (thnam cŭək)
Korean: 담배 (ko) (dambae), 연초(煙草) (ko) (yeoncho)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: توتِن‎ (tutin)
Kyrgyz: тамеки (ky) (tameki)
Lao: ຢາສູບ (lo) (yā sūp)
Latin: tabacum n
Latvian: tabaka f
Lithuanian: tabakas m
Luxembourgish: Tubak m
Macedonian: ту́тун m (tútun)
Malagasy: kisoka (mg), paraky (mg), tabaka (mg)
Malay: tembakau
Malayalam: പുകയില (ml) (pukayila)
Maltese: tabakk m
Maléku Jaíka: túa
Maori: tupeka
Mohawk: oién:kwa'
Mongolian:
Cyrillic: тамхи (mn) (tamxi)
Nahuatl: piciyetl (nah)
Classical: piciyetl
Navajo: nátʼoh
Nivkh: тамх (tamx)
Norwegian: tobakk
Occitan: tabat (oc) m
Ojibwe: asemaa
Persian: تنباکو‎ (fa) (tanbâko)
Pirahã: tíhi
Polish: tytoń (pl) m, tabaka (pl) f
Portuguese: tabaco (pt) m
Pykobjê: carin
Romanian: tutun (ro) n, tabac (ro) n
Russian: таба́к (ru) m (tabák)
Scottish Gaelic: tombaca m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ду̀ха̄н m (Bosnian, Croatian), ду̀ва̄н m (Serbian)
Roman: dùhān (sh) m (Bosnian, Croatian), dùvān (sh) m (Serbian)
Sicilian: tabbaccu m
Slovak: tabak (sk) m
Slovene: tobak (sl) m
Spanish: tabaco (es) m
Sranan Tongo: tabaka
Swahili: tumbaku (sw)
Swedish: tobak (sv)
Tagalog: tabako
Tamil: புகையிலை (ta) (pukaiyilai)
Tatar: төтен (tt) (töten)
Taíno: tabacu'
Telugu: పొగాకు (te) (pogāku)
Thai: ยาสูบ (th) (yaa-sùup)
Tibetan: མདོ་ཐག (mdo thag), བཞེས་ཐག (bzhes thag) (honorific)
Turkish: tütün (tr)
Tuvan: таакпы (taakpı)
Ukrainian: тютю́н (uk) m (tjutjún)
Urdu: تمباکو‎ m (tambākū)
Vietnamese: thuốc lá (vi)
Volapük: tabak
Welsh: tybaco (cy) m
West Frisian: tabak
Yiddish: טאַבאַק‎ m (tabak)
Zhuang: ien, ienmbaw, yenhcauj
ǃXóõ: gǂkxʻàna

variety

Finnish: tupakkalajike, tupakkalaatu

Verb

tobacco (third-person singular simple present tobaccos, present participle tobaccoing, simple past and past participle tobaccoed)

(intransitive) To indulge in tobacco; to smoke.
(transitive) To treat with tobacco.
- 1918, Tropical Diseases Bulletin (volume 12, page 412)
  The most satisfactory method of tobaccoing houses is that of stitching the leaves on to a piece of cloth like a strip of matting, which is then laid on the floor. Powdered tobacco should be introduced into rat holes, which can then be firmly closed up with bricks and mortar. Experiments carried out in the City of Hyderabad seem to have been very satisfactory.

References

Bartolomé de las Casas, 1552 (supports the gloss "roll of tobacco leaves")
Oviedo, 1535 (supports the gloss "pipe for smoking")

Anagrams

occabot

[1] Bartolomé de las Casas, 1552 (supports the gloss "roll of tobacco leaves")

[2] Oviedo, 1535 (supports the gloss "pipe for smoking")