What does "cigarette" mean?

1. (tobacco roll) a thin roll of paper filled with tobacco that you light and smoke. 2. (to provide a smoke) to give someone a cigarette or light one for them.

How do you use "cigarette"?

This verb use is extremely rare and usually found in specific regional dialects or older slang.

cigarette

n. · v.

US //ˌsɪɡɝˈɛt// UK //sˌɪɡəɹˈɛt// cig·a·rette

1 tobacco roll (n.)
A2 Elementary

a thin roll of paper filled with tobacco that you light and smoke.

a small cylinder of finely cut tobacco leaves rolled in thin paper, typically including a filter at one end.

Example

He stepped outside the restaurant to smoke a cigarette before the main course arrived.

Example

Public health campaigns have significantly reduced the social acceptability of smoking a cigarette in enclosed public spaces over the last few decades.
- smoke
- fag
2 to provide a smoke (v.)
C2 Proficiency Slang Informal

to give someone a cigarette or light one for them.

to provide another person with a cigarette or to facilitate the lighting of one. Transitive use is restricted to specific informal contexts.

Example

He asked his friend to cigarette him since he had left his pack at home.

Example

In the old noir film, the protagonist would cigarette his partner before discussing the details of the heist.

Usage

This verb use is extremely rare and usually found in specific regional dialects or older slang.

Teacher's tip

Learners should treat 'cigarette' almost exclusively as a noun; using it as a verb will likely confuse most native speakers.

Origin

Etymology tree Latin cicādader. Vulgar Latin *cicār(r)a Spanish cigarra? Spanish cigarrobor. French cigare French -ette French cigarettebor. English cigarette Borrowed from French cigarette, from cigare, from Spanish cigarro + diminutive suffix -ette. By surface analysis, cigar + -ette.