nicotine

Where does the word "nicotine" come from? It comes from French Nicot, passing through Latin and French before entering English (1819).

Nicotine’s story begins in French: Nicot meant “a family name.” Jean Nicot, the French ambassador in Lisbon, sent tobacco to Queen Catherine de' Medici in 1560 as a cure for headaches. By 1753, the word had taken hold in Latin as Nicotiana. Linnaeus named the tobacco genus after Nicot in his Species Plantarum of 1753. From there it passed into French as nicotine by 1810s. The chemical name followed; Wilhelm Posselt and Karl Reimann of Heidelberg isolated the pure alkaloid in 1828. It reached English by 1819 as nicotine. Borrowed from French; the US Surgeon General's 1988 report declared nicotine addictive. Today, nicotine means a toxic, addictive compound found in tobacco.

1. Stage 1 · French · 1560 Nicot "a family name", Jean Nicot, the French ambassador in Lisbon, sent tobacco to Queen Catherine de' Medici in 1560 as a cure for headaches.
2. Stage 2 · Latin · 1753 Nicotiana "tobacco genus", Linnaeus named the tobacco genus after Nicot in his Species Plantarum of 1753.
3. Stage 3 · French · 1810s nicotine "tobacco alkaloid", the chemical name followed; Wilhelm Posselt and Karl Reimann of Heidelberg isolated the pure alkaloid in 1828.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1819 nicotine "tobacco alkaloid", borrowed from French; the US Surgeon General's 1988 report declared nicotine addictive.