nicotine
/ˈnɪkətiːn/ noun
Forms nicotin
- noun (organic chemistry) An alkaloid (C₁₀H₁₄N₂), commonly occurring in the tobacco plant. “She is addicted to nicotine.”
- noun (figuratively) Tobacco or cigarettes. “He's got nicotine stains on his fingers.”
Etymology
Borrowed from French nicotine, equivalent to Nicot + -ine, named after Jean Nicot (1530–1604), the French ambassador to Portugal, who sent tobacco seeds back to France in 1561. The etymology of the surname itself is unclear.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An alkaloid which is the active principle of tobacco. It is a colorless, transparent, oily liquid, having an acrid odor, and an acrid burning taste. It is intensely poisonous. Ure.
Etymology [F. nicotine. See Nicotian.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “nicotine”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details