cannabis
/ˈkænəbɪs/
noun
Origin
Ancient Greek
κάνναβις (kánnabis) — hemp
Overview
Meaning Now
- A genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae, including Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica.
- A psychoactive preparation made from the dried leaves, flowers, and resin of these plants.
Literal older meaning
hemp
Language path
Proto-Indo-European → Scythian/Thracian → Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Earliest form
cannabis
Earliest period
16th century
Journey
The term has historical roots in ancient Eurasian trade routes. Herodotus wrote of the Scythians using the smoke of the plant in ritual contexts, marking one of the earliest Western literary references.
Evolution
- Proto-Indo-European
*kan-
“hemp/plant fiber”
Reconstructed base form
- Ancient Greek
κάνναβις
“hemp plant”
First recorded by Herodotus in the 5th century BCE
- Latin
cannabis
“hemp”
Borrowed directly from Greek
- New Latin
Cannabis
“botanical genus name”
Adopted by Linnaeus for the genus
- Modern English
cannabis
“marijuana/hemp plant”
General usage
Connections
Word parts
cannabis
root
hemp
Related across languages
Old English
henep
hemp
Russian
конопля (konoplya)
hemp
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Related to cannabis
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.