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nicotine

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A colorless, poisonous alkaloid, C10H14N2, derived from the tobacco plant and used as an insecticide. It is the substance in tobacco to which smokers can become addicted.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A volatile alkaloid base (C10H14N2) obtained from tobacco.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) An alkaloid which is the active principle of tobacco (C10H14N2). It occurs in tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana rusticum) to the extent of 2 to 8%, in combination with malic acid or citric acid. It is a colorless, transparent, oily liquid, having an acrid odor, and an acrid burning taste. It is intensely poisonous. The apparently addictive effects of tobacco smoking have been ascribed largely to the effect of nicotine, and the controlled administration of nicotine on various forms has been used as a technique for assisting efforts to stop the smoking habit.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun chemistry An alkaloid (C10H14N2), commonly occurring in the tobacco plant. In small doses it is a habit-forming stimulant; in larger doses it is toxic and is often used in insecticides.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an alkaloid poison that occurs in tobacco; used in medicine and as an insecticide

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from New Latin nicotiāna; see nicotiana.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowing from French nicotine, named after Jean Nicot, French ambassador to Portugal, who sent tobacco seeds back to France in 1561.

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Examples

  • They weren't based on hard science connecting health hazards to long-term nicotine addiction, but were set to mirror the length of use in clinical trials.

    Chew On This: Sticking With Nicotine Gum for the Long Haul David Kesmodel 2011

  • I've heard it said that nicotine is more addictive than any other drug, including heroin.

    Obama signs anti-tobacco bill 2009

  • The vast majority of smokers start in childhood and then find it very difficult to quit because nicotine is addictive.

    Matthew Yglesias » Permanent Income Hypothesis 2009

  • Reesearch findings conclude that alcoholics in early recovery tend to have impaired cognitive functioning, and nicotine is known to have beneficial effects under certain circumstances.

    November 26th, 2007 2007

  • You people seem to use the same argument that the tobacco corporations used against the scientific theory that nicotine is addictive and smoking causes cancer.

    Sound Politics: Scenes from Wallingford 2007

  • New genotyping research from the Center for Addiction and Mental Health found that the enzyme known to metabolize both the smoking cessation drug bupropion and nicotine is highly genetically variable in all ethnicities and influences smoking cessation.

    September 17th, 2007 2007

  • "That is an indication that nicotine is a critical component of tobacco smoke and that it is the desire to obtain nicotine that is an important drive of smoking behaviour."

    Study: Monkeys Becoming Increasingly Hooked on Nicotine | Impact Lab 2007

  • While nicotine is highly addictive, researchers have also shown the drug to enhance learning and memory -- a property that has launched efforts to develop nicotine-like drugs to treat cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

    Books do furnish a room. 2007

  • Medicines or products that help you get over a physical addiction to nicotine are called nicotine replacement therapies NRT.

    The 10 Best Questions™ for Recovering from a Heart Attack Ph.D. Dede Bonner 2009

  • LIMBAUGH: “It has not been proven that nicotine is addictive, the same with cigarettes causing emphysema [and other diseases].”

    Think Progress » Rush Limbaugh attacks a listener 2006

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hypernyms (6)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. alkaloid
  2. phytotoxin
  3. plant toxin
  4. pressor
  5. vasoconstrictive
  6. vasoconstrictor

same context (24)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. addiction
  2. amphetamine
  3. arsenic
  4. aspirin
  5. atropine
  6. bupropion
  7. caffeine
  8. cannabis
  9. chloroform
  10. curare
  11. cyanide
  12. ephedrine
  13. estrogen
  14. heroin
  15. lympho
  16. morphia
  17. muscarinic
  18. narcotic
  19. opiate
  20. opium
  21. quinine
  22. strychnine
  23. testosterone
  24. yasmin

Comments

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  • rolig commented on the word nicotine

    I just learned that the origins of this word, which represents a costly nightmare, a rite of passage, a crutch, a refuge, and a pleasure – and enormous profits – for so many, comes from the name bestowed on the tobacco plant in a self-aggrandizing act by the 16th-century French diplomat Jean Nicot de Villemain, who brought the plant and its seeds from Portugal to the French King Charles IX in 1560. He introduced snuff tobacco to the French court, thus making a name for himself, so to speak. The rest is tragic history. So nicotine goes on my Suprisingly Eponymous list – the first word to be added in many years.

    May 18, 2022

  • bilby commented on the word nicotine

    I know dictionary definitions are supposed to be 'neutral' but the first sentence of AHD definition is absolutely artistic deadpan.

    May 19, 2022