1588, from Sp. tabaco, in part from an Arawakan (probably Taino) language of the Caribbean, 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 Sp. tabaco (also It. tabacco) was a name of medicinal herbs from c.1410, from Arabic tabbaq, attested since 9c. as the name of various herbs. So the word may be a European one transferred to an American plant. Cultivation 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.

(a type of plant that has) leaves that are dried and used for smoking in pipes, cigarettes, cigars etc, or as snuff
Example: Tobacco is bad for your health.

Arabic: تبْغ، دُخان Chinese (Simplified): 烟叶，烟草 Chinese (Traditional): 煙葉，煙草 Czech: tabák Danish: tobak Dutch: tabak Estonian: tubakas Finnish: tupakka French: tabac German: der Tabak Greek: καπνός Hungarian: dohány	Icelandic: tóbak Italian: tabacco Japanese: 煙草の葉 Lithuanian: tabakas Polish: tytoń Portuguese (Brazil): tabaco Portuguese (Portugal): tabaco Romanian: tutun Russian: табак Spanish: tabaco Swedish: tobak Turkish: tütün