nicotiana

IPA/nɪˌkəʊ.ʃiˈɑː.nə/
IPA/nəˌkoʊ.ʃiˈæn.ə/

nicotiana — noun

  • nicotianasingular
  • nicotianasplural

1. a garden plant grown for its trumpet-shaped flowers with a strong evening scent;

1.nounC2
Definition

a garden plant grown for its trumpet-shaped flowers with a strong evening scent; the same plant family also includes the kind whose dried leaves are used to make tobacco.

Example

David planted white nicotianas along the fence so the garden would smell sweet after sunset.

typical context: nicotianas grown for their evening scent

The nicotiana behind the bench opened its flowers slowly as the sky turned dark.

habit: flowers open in the evening

Common collocations
  • plant nicotianas
  • white / pink nicotianas
  • scented nicotiana
  • a bed of nicotianas
Synonyms
  • flowering tobacco

    the common English name used in plant catalogues and garden books

  • tobacco plant

    broader; can mean either the ornamental kind or the crop kind

Grammar Patterns

a nicotiana

nicotianas

Usage Note

Often used as a count noun for the plants in a bed or border ("three nicotianas"); occasionally used as a mass noun for the genus as a whole. Most gardeners encounter the ornamental kinds, not the tobacco kind.

Common Mistakes

I smoke nicotiana every morning.
I smoke tobacco every morning.
tobacco is made from one species of nicotiana; the word 'nicotiana' itself is used mainly for the garden flower.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

In everyday English, 'nicotiana' is the technical (Latin genus) name that gardeners use; 'flowering tobacco' is the everyday name for the same ornamental kinds, common in seed catalogues. 'Tobacco plant' is the broadest term and can refer either to the crop species grown for its leaves or to a garden variety grown for its flowers — context usually makes the meaning clear. 'Petunia' is a close cousin in the same plant family (Solanaceae) and looks similar, but petunia flowers are wider and shorter, while nicotiana flowers are long and trumpet-shaped and most are scented at night. So a gardener might say, 'I planted nicotianas, not petunias, because I wanted the evening smell.'

nicotiana ↗flowering tobaccotobacco plantpetunia

Common collocations

Nouns

  • nicotiana seeds
  • nicotiana flowers
  • nicotiana plants

Phrases

  • plant nicotianas in spring
  • scented white nicotianas

Prepositions

  • a bed of nicotianas
  • rows of nicotianas

Etymology

French (proper name)Modern LatinEnglish

Named in 1753 by the Swedish botanist Linnaeus after the French diplomat Jean Nicot (1530–1600), who sent tobacco seeds and leaves from Portugal to the French royal court. The chemical name 'nicotine' comes from the same source.