Etymograph

English

cigarette

Cigarette comes from French cigare ‘cigar’, and goes back to Spanish cigarro.

  1. Spanishc. 1500–presentcigarro1‘cigar’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentcigare1‘cigar’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentcigarette1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1897cigarette1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English cigarette
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “No matter how early I came down, I would…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Spanishc. 1500–presentcigarroWiktionary, English cigarette‘cigar’
  2. Frenchc. 1600–presentcigareWiktionary, English cigarette‘cigar’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentcigaretteWiktionary, English cigarette
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1897cigaretteWiktionary, English cigarette. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “No matter how early I came down, I would…”

Equivalent to cigar + -ette

Spanish cigarro

English cigar

Linked words

through Latin cicāda ‘cicada, tree-cricket’

cicada, 3 more

through Spanish cigarro ‘cigar’

puro, 2 more

Today it means

noun A small cigar consisting of tobacco or another substance, wrapped up in a thin roll with paper, intended for smoking.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cigarette”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Spanish cigarro / cigarette

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