What is "tobacco"

Tobacco \To*bac"co\, n. [Sp. tabaco, fr. the Indian tabaco the tube or pipe in which the Indians or Caribbees smoked this plant. Some derive the word from Tabaco, a province of Yucatan, where it was said to be first found by the Spaniards; others from the island of Tobago, one of the Caribbees. But these derivations are very doubtful.]

1. (Bot.) An American plant ( Nicotiana Tabacum) of the Nightshade family, much used for smoking and chewing, and as snuff. As a medicine, it is narcotic, emetic, and cathartic. Tobacco has a strong, peculiar smell, and an acrid taste.

   Note: The name is extended to other species of the genus, and to some unrelated plants, as Indian tobacco ( Nicotiana rustica, and also Lobelia inflata), mountain tobacco ( Arnica montana), and Shiraz tobacco ( Nicotiana Persica).

2. The leaves of the plant prepared for smoking, chewing, etc., by being dried, cured, and manufactured in various ways. Tobacco box (Zo["o]l.), the common American skate. Tobacco camphor. (Chem.) See Nicotianine. Tobacco man, a tobacconist. [R.] Tobacco pipe.

   1. A pipe used for smoking, made of baked clay, wood, or other material.

   2. (Bot.) Same as Indian pipe, under Indian.

      Tobacco-pipe clay (Min.), a species of clay used in making tobacco pipes; -- called also cimolite.

      Tobacco-pipe fish. (Zo["o]l.) See Pipemouth.

      Tobacco stopper, a small plug for pressing down the tobacco in a pipe as it is smoked.

      Tobacco worm (Zo["o]l.), the larva of a large hawk moth ( Sphinx Carolina syn. Phlegethontius Carolina). It is dark green, with seven oblique white stripes bordered above with dark brown on each side of the body. It feeds upon the leaves of tobacco and tomato plants, and is often very injurious to the tobacco crop. See Illust. of Hawk moth.

1580s, from Spanish tabaco, in part from an Arawakan language of the Caribbean (probably Taino), said to mean "a roll of tobacco leaves" (according to Las Casas, 1552) or "a kind of pipe for smoking tobacco" (according to Oviedo, 1535). Scholars of Caribbean languages lean toward Las Casas' explanation. But Spanish tabaco (also Italian tabacco) was a name of medicinal herbs from early 15c., from Arabic tabbaq, attested since 9c. as the name of various herbs. So the word may be in part a European one transferred to an American plant. The West Indian island of Tobago was said to have been named by Columbus in 1498 from Haitian tambaku "pipe," in reference to the native custom of smoking dried tobacco leaves [Room].\n

\nCultivation in France began 1556 with an importation of seed by Andre Thevet; introduced in Spain 1558 by Francisco Fernandes. Tobacco Road as a mythical place representative of rural Southern U.S. poverty is from the title of Erskine Caldwell's 1932 novel. Early German and Portuguese accounts of Brazil also record another name for tobacco, bittin or betum, evidently a native word in South America, which made its way into 17c. Spanish, French, and English as petun, petumin, etc., and which is preserved in petunia and butun, the Breton word for "tobacco."\nMany haue giuen it [tobacco] the name, Petum, whiche is in deede the proper name of the Hearbe, as they whiche haue traueiled that countrey can tell. [John Frampton, translation of Nicolás Monardes' "Joyful Newes Oute of the Newe Founde Worlde," 1577]\n

n. 1 (context uncountable English) Any plant of the genus ''Nicotiana''. 2 (context uncountable English) Leaves of ''Nicotiana tabacum'' and some other species cultivated and harvested to make cigarettes, cigars, snuff, for smoking in pipes or for chewing.

1. n. leaves of the tobacco plant dried and prepared for smoking or ingestion [syn: baccy]

2. aromatic annual or perennial herbs and shrubs

3. [also: tobaccoes (pl)]

Tobacco is a product prepared from the leaves of the tobacco plant by curing them. The plant is part of the genus Nicotiana and of the Solanaceae (nightshade) family. While more than 70 species of tobacco are known, the chief commercial crop is N. tabacum. The more potent variant N. rustica is also used around the world.

Tobacco contains the alkaloid nicotine, which is a stimulant. Dried tobacco leaves are mainly used for smoking in cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and flavored shisha tobacco. They can be also consumed as snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco and snus.

Tobacco use is a risk factor for many diseases, especially those affecting the heart, liver, and lungs, as well as many cancers. In 2008, the World Health Organization named tobacco as the world's single greatest cause of preventable death.

Thomas Fec, better known by his stage name Tobacco, is an American electronic musician. He is the frontman of the psychedelic rock band Black Moth Super Rainbow, in addition to working as a solo artist; in both settings he works most conspicuously with pre-digital electronic instruments such as analog synthesizers and tape machines.

Tobacco (, translit. Tyutyun) is a 1962 Bulgarian drama film directed by Nikola Korabov. It was entered into the 1963 Cannes Film Festival.

The film was based on Dimitar Dimov's best-selling novel Tobacco.

"Tobacco" is a segment about the tobacco industry, which aired on February 15, 2015 as part of the second episode of the second season of the HBO series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. During the eighteen-minute segment, comedian John Oliver discusses tobacco industry trends and practices. He also introduces Jeff the Diseased Lung, a mascot he created for the American global cigarette and tobacco company Philip Morris International, the makers of Marlboro cigarettes. The anthropomorphic diseased lung, who smokes and coughs, has been compared to Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man. Oliver and his team promoted the cartoon character by sending shirts with Jeff's image to Togo and displaying billboards in Uruguay, and by encouraging use of the hashtag #JeffWeCan, which trended on Twitter following the broadcast.

Philip Morris issued a response to the segment, which received some criticism. The "Tobacco" segment received widespread media coverage, with several outlets praising Oliver's ability to launch successful marketing campaigns and change perceptions about smoking through the creation of the mascot. Jeff later appeared at a protest organized by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in New York City in May 2015.