tobacco
/təˈbækoʊ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.19 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and some other species cultivated and harvested to make cigarettes, cigars, snuff, for smoking in pipes or for chewing.
Uncountable
name
name
A township in Gladwin County, Michigan, probably named after one of the rivers.
Example Sentences
- "Tobacco and the plant valerian are also considered to be anaphrodisiac in their effects, diminishing sexual inclination."
- "Tobacco-settlement bonds are a tribute both to the inventiveness of bankers and the childlike impatience of politicians."
- "City councilors in Newton have approved a generational ban on tobacco and e-cigarette sales in the city that will prohibit purchases by anyone born after March 1, 2004, joining a growing number of Massachusetts communities that have passed measures to curb tobacco use among young people."
- "Tobaccos from the Connecticut Valley were used for wrapping cigars."
- "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."
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 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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: طُبَّاق, -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /təˈbækoʊ/
- British English: /təˈbækəʊ/