cigarrillo (Spanish)

Where does "cigarrillo" come from?

The Spanish word 'cigarrillo' serves as a diminutive form of 'cigarro', created by adding the suffix 'illo'. While 'illo' is a shortened term of endearment derived from the word 'chiquillo' or 'kid', the origin of 'cigarro' itself remains uncertain. Etymologists suggest it may relate to the Spanish word 'cigarra' meaning 'cicada' due to its appearance, or it could potentially stem from Mayan terms like 'siyar' or 'sikʼar' which refer to the act of smoking tobacco leaves.

Full etymology tree

• cigarrillo (Spanish), 'cigarette'
  • derived cigarro (Spanish), 'cigar'
    • derived cigarra (Spanish), 'cicada'
      • inherited *cicār(r)a (Vulgar Latin)
        • inherited cicāda (Latin), 'cicada, tree-cricket'
  • suffix -illo (Spanish), 'added to masculine nouns to denote a diminutive form'

Ancestors

• cigarro (Spanish)
• illo (Spanish)

Descendants and derived words

• cigarrillo (Awa-Cuaiquer)
• sigarilyo (Cebuano)
• sigarilyo (Cebuano)
• sigariyo (Chamorro)
• cigarrillo (Chavacano)
• sigarilio (Ilocano)
• sigariliu (Kapampangan)
• sigariliu (Kapampangan)
• sigarillo (Norwegian Bokmål)
• cigarrilha (Portuguese)
• sigarilyo (Tagalog)

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris