Etymology
Advertisement

hemp (n.)

Old English hænep "hemp, cannabis sativa," from Proto-Germanic *hanapiz (source also of Old Saxon hanap, Old Norse hampr, Old High German hanaf, German Hanf), probably a very early Germanic borrowing of the same Scythian word that became Greek kannabis (see cannabis). As the name of the fiber made from the plant, by c. 1300. Slang sense of "marijuana" dates from 1940s; scientific applications for the narcotic derived from hemp date to 1870.

Entries linking to hemp

cannabis (n.)

1798, "common hemp," from Cannabis, Modern Latin plant genus named (1728), from Greek kannabis "hemp," a Scythian or Thracian word. That word is also source of Armenian kanap', Albanian kanep, Russian konoplja, Persian kanab, Lithuanian kanapės "hemp," and English canvas and possibly hemp. In reference to use of the plant parts as an intoxicant, from 1848. Related: Cannabic.

hempen (adj.)

"made of hemp," late 14c., from hemp + -en (2). In many figurative expressions 15c.-19c. it is in reference to the hangman's noose.

updated on June 28, 2015

Advertisement
Advertisement

Dictionary entries near hemp

hemophiliac

hemophobia

hemorrhage

hemorrhoid

hemorrhoids

hemp

hempen

hem-stitch

hen

henbane

hence

© 2001-2022 Douglas Harper