Where does “Tobago” come from?
Tobago comes from Spanish tabaco, which was borrowed from Arabic ṭabāq, a word of uncertain ultimate origin that may have originally referred to a tube or pipe used for smoking.
Ancestry of “Tobago”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spanish | tabaco | tobacco |
| 2 | Ottoman Turkish | طباق | dish, plate, any vessel for holding food, especially a round and shallow one, with a knobbed cover |
| 3 | Arabic | طَبَق | plate |
| 4 | Middle Persian | tʾp̄k' | frying pan |
| 5 | Proto-Iranian | tāpaka- | heater {{non-gloss definition|or}} baking place... |
| 6 | Proto-Iranian | tap- | to warm up, heat; flat |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | tep- | to be warm, be hot |