What does beedi mean?
A beedi is a thin, hand-rolled cigarette originating in South Asia, made by wrapping a small amount of flake tobacco in a dried tendu leaf and tying it with a short piece of thread. Beedis are typically shorter and narrower than machine-made cigarettes, lack filters, and are considerably cheaper, which has made them the most widely consumed tobacco product in India. The word entered English from Hindi and Marathi, reflecting the product's deep roots in the region. Beyond its meaning as a tobacco item, 'beedi' also evokes an entire industry: millions of workers, often women working from home, roll beedis for low pay, a subject of ongoing labour and public-health scrutiny. Health researchers frequently cite beedi smoking as delivering more tar and carbon monoxide than standard cigarettes per unit weight. In English writing, the word appears in journalism, public-health literature, and descriptions of daily life across India and neighbouring countries.
nounA thin, hand-rolled cigarette from South Asia, made by wrapping tobacco in a leaf (typically a tendu or temburni leaf) and secured with a string.
- A small, thin, hand-rolled cigarette wrapped in a tendu leaf and tied with string, popular in India and other parts of South Asia.
"He stepped out of the workshop and lit a beedi in the alley behind the factory."
"The street vendor paused between customers to smoke a beedi outside his stall."
"Public health campaigns have long targeted beedi smoking because the unfiltered rolls deliver high levels of tar and carbon monoxide."
The anglicized plural 'beedis' is most common in English prose, though the original form may remain unchanged when referring to quantities in South Asian contexts.
"He rolled several beedis and left them on the table."
Beedis outsell conventional cigarettes in India by billions of sticks each year, despite being smaller, cheaper, and often stronger.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of beedi
The word 'beedi' comes from the Hindi word 'biṛī' (बीड़ी), which refers to this type of hand-rolled tobacco leaf cigarette. It was borrowed into English during the period of British colonial presence in India, when such terms for local products passed into English usage. It belongs to the broad family of English words adopted from Hindi and other Indian languages during that era.
Usage notes
Register: informal to neutral. The word carries strong associations with South Asia, especially India, where beedis are widely smoked by working-class consumers and rolled by millions of home-based workers. In Western contexts it may appear in discussions of tobacco regulation or import shops. Plural forms vary: 'beedis' is common in English, though 'beedi' can also function as an invariant plural.
Don't confuse with
A birdie is a golf score one under par or a small bird, while a beedi is a type of hand-rolled cigarette.
Bitty means composed of many small pieces, whereas a beedi is a thin tobacco product wrapped in a leaf.