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BACKGROUND - We examined the Finnish concept of “nikotiiniriippuvuus” (nicotine addiction or dependency in English) in two public arenas in recent Finnish history (1970s, 1990s and 2000s). One was the biggest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the other the medical professional journal Lääkärilehti. DATA & DESIGN - A total of 102 print press items from the 1990s and the 2000s were collected through electronic archives with the search word “nikotiiniriippuvuus”. In addition, 41 texts were collected manually from the 1970s. RESULTS - Of the items from the 1970s, only three mentioned the concept of “riippuvuus”. Overall, we found that the use of “nikotiiniriippuvuus” has increased greatly over time. In order to know more about the implications of this, we identified some themes as meaning-making traits surrounding the concept in the materials. The analysis points to four main meaning-making functions of the concept: i) agenda-setting, ii) introducing and explaining self-governance techniques, iii) introducing a medical understanding, and iv), mediating views on responsibility division.