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You are here: Home / Odds / Where Did the Word Tobacco Come From?

Where Did the Word Tobacco Come From?

July 5, 2020 by Karen Hill

When American Indians were showing European settlers how to smoke from a calumet, or peace pipe, they handed the white men the calumet and said, “Tobacco, tobacco!”

This was the Indian word for the “tube of the pipe,” which the Indians wanted the strangers to put into their mouths.

The Europeans thought that the Indians were calling the burning leaf by that name, and tobacco has been called tobacco ever since!

Related Facts

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  • Who Was the First Person To Smoke Tobacco?
  • Where did the word “calumet” originate and What does calumet mean?
  • When did people figure out that smoking tobacco was bad for you and causes cancer?

Filed Under: Odds

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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