What does cheroot mean?
A cheroot is a cigar whose ends are cut off squarely rather than tapered, leaving it open at both tips so it can be smoked without the smoker clipping or piercing one end first. The word entered English during the era of European trade and colonisation in Asia, deriving ultimately from a Tamil word meaning 'roll' or 'shred', and the cigars themselves have long been associated with India, Myanmar, and other parts of Southeast Asia, where local tobacco was rolled in this distinctive shape. Cheroots tend to be short, thick, and relatively inexpensive compared with fine Havanas, which helped make them popular among soldiers, planters, and labourers alike. In contemporary English the word appears chiefly in historical or descriptive writing, where its slightly exotic origin lends colour to a sentence. To smoke a cheroot is simply to light either end — no cutter required — making it one of the more self-sufficient members of the cigar family.
nounA cigar with both ends cut off square, so that it is open at each end and smoked without being clipped.
- A cigar with bluntly squared-off ends, open at both tips and smoked without cutting; historically associated especially with India and Southeast Asia.
"The old planter sat on the veranda, puffing contentedly on a cheroot."
"He settled into the wicker chair and lit a fat Burmese cheroot."
"The air in the club room was thick with pipe smoke and the sharp tang of cheroots."
Regular English plural, formed by adding -s. Used when referring to multiple cigars, e.g. a box of cheroots.
"He bought a bundle of cheap cheroots at the bazaar."
Unlike ordinary cigars, cheroots need no cutter — both ends are already open, ready to light straight from the box.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cheroot
The word cheroot comes from Tamil cuṟuṭṭu, meaning 'roll' or 'shred', referring to the way the tobacco leaf is rolled. It passed into English through Portuguese and French contact with southern India, becoming established in English by the late 17th century as trade with Asia expanded. It belongs to the same wave of Indian borrowings that gave English words like catamaran, pariah, and curry.
How cheroot is actually used
The word carries a slightly old-fashioned, colonial-era flavour in modern English, often appearing in historical fiction or descriptions of South Asian and Southeast Asian settings. It is neutral to formal in register.
Easily confused with cheroot
A cigarillo is a small, thin, closed-end cigarette-sized cigar that must be clipped before smoking, whereas a cheroot is a thicker cigar cut square at both ends so it can be lit directly.