Cigars and Cigarettes
Preserved but no longer current.
The word cigar comes from cicada, the Spanish cigar-shaped beetle. The natives of Cuba were already smoking tobacco in this form when the white men first invaded their country. Cigars as we know them were introduced into U.S.A. by General Putnam, in 1762, on his return from the capture of Havana by the Earl of Albemarle, and this fashion of smoking soon spread to Europe.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Cigars and Cigarettes” mean?
The word cigar comes from cicada, the Spanish cigar-shaped beetle. The natives of Cuba were already smoking tobacco in this form when the white men first invaded their country. Cigars as we know them were introduced into U.S.A. by General Putnam, in 1762, on his return from the capture of Havana by the Earl of Albemarle, and this fashion of smoking soon spread to Europe.
Is “Cigars and Cigarettes” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.