Petun
/ˈpɛtən/noun
An old or dialectal English word for tobacco, especially the tobacco plant.
Did you know?The botanical name **petunia** was modeled on French *petun*, linking a familiar garden flower to an old Indigenous American word for tobacco.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian period
Tupi
petỹ / petum
“Tobacco; a tobacco plant”
16th Century
Portuguese
petum
“Tobacco, borrowed from an Indigenous South American language”
16th–17th Century
French
petun
“Tobacco”
17th Century
English
petun
“Tobacco, especially the plant”
18th Century
Botanical Latin
Petunia
“A plant genus named from French *petun*, because of its resemblance to tobacco”
Modern English
English
petun
“An obsolete or dialectal term for tobacco”