A cigarette (from the French for "small cigar". Cigar comes, through the Spanish and Portuguese cigarro, from the Mayan siyar; "to smoke rolled tobacco leaves")[1] is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well. Most modern manufactured cigarettes are filtered and include reconstituted tobacco and other additives.[2]

The term cigarette, as commonly used, refers to a tobacco cigarette but can apply to similar devices containing other herbs, such as cloves or cannabis. A cigarette is distinguished from a cigar by its smaller size, use of processed leaf, and paper wrapping, which is normally white, though other colors are occasionally available. Cigars are typically composed entirely of whole-leaf tobacco.

Rates of cigarette smoking vary widely, and have changed considerably over the course of history — since cigarettes were first widely used in the mid-20th century. While rates of smoking have over time leveled off or declined in the developed world, they continue to rise in developing nations.[3][4]

Cigarettes like other tobacco products, do carry serious health effects with them. Nicotine, the primary psychoactive chemical in tobacco and therefore cigarettes, is addictive.[5] About half of cigarette smokers die of tobacco-related disease[6] and lose on average 14 years of life.[5] Cigarette use by pregnant women has also been shown to cause birth defects, including mental and physical disabilities.[7] Secondhand smoke from cigarettes has been shown to be injurious to bystanders,[8][9][10][11] which has led to legislation that has banned their smoking in many workplaces and public areas. Cigarettes are the most frequent