Cannabis

Origin

From Latin cannabis 'hemp', from Ancient Greek κάνναβις. The term was claimed to ultimately be from Scythian by Herodotus (compare Kurdish kinif, Ossetian gän). It may be a compound of Proto-Finno-Ugric *kéne ("hemp") (compare Estonian kena, Lapp kèdž', Udmurt kenem) and *piš ("to burn; nettle") (compare Komi/Udmurt pyš, Khanty piš) but may also be connected to Assyrian qunnabu 'cannabis'. This word wandered widely into Semitic, Baltic, Slavic and Germanic (as *hanapiz). See hemp.

Full definition of cannabis

Noun

1. A tall annual dioecious plant (Cannabis, especially Cannabis sativa''), native to central Asia and having alternate, palmately divided leaves and tough bast fibers.
2. A mildly euphoriant, intoxicating hallucinogenic drug prepared from various parts of this plant.

Synonyms

• (plant) hemp, marijuana
• (drug) hemp, dope, grass, marijuana, THC, weed, string

Hyponyms

• (plant) Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, Cannabis ruderalis

Derived terms

• cannabinoid
• cannabidiol
• cannabinol