What does marijuana mean?
Marijuana is the dried, psychoactive form of cannabis, especially the flowering tops of Cannabis sativa, prepared for smoking or consumption in other ways. In everyday English, the word may also refer to cannabis generally or, in British usage, to a marijuana cigarette. It appears in discussions of medicine, law, agriculture, recreation, and public policy, with the meaning and legal status varying considerably between countries and jurisdictions. Marijuana became especially prominent in the United States during the twentieth century as governments and cultural movements debated whether it should be prohibited, regulated, or legalized. The term remains widely recognized, although formal or legal writing often uses cannabis when discussing the plant as a whole. Informal alternatives such as weed and pot are common in conversation, while words like reefer may sound dated. The word also has a distinctive international history: English borrowed it through Spanish from a Nahuatl term associated with cannabis use in central Mexico.
The dried flowering tops of the cannabis plant, especially Cannabis sativa, prepared for smoking or other use; more broadly, cannabis used as a psychoactive drug.
"The investigation found packages of marijuana hidden inside a shipping container."
Usually uncountable in standard usage. In British English, it can also mean a marijuana cigarette, though this sense is less common in American English.
To smoke marijuana.
"They marijuanaed in the yard while the movie played."
Informal and relatively uncommon; cannabis is more commonly used for the plant or substance, while smoke is more natural for the act of smoking it.
Marijuana is normally a mass noun. A plural form is not normally needed, though it can occur when referring to separate quantities or types.
"The officers recovered several kilograms of marijuana from the vehicle."
The word traveled into English through Spanish from Nahuatl, giving an ancient Mesoamerican plant a name now recognized around the world.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does marijuana come from?
The English word marijuana comes through Spanish, which borrowed it from Nahuatl, the language of central Mexico. The Nahuatl term was associated with the cannabis plant and its use, although the precise analysis of its internal structure is debated. Spanish and Portuguese later developed related words for marijuana users and marijuana use, and the English word entered widespread international circulation during the twentieth century.
How marijuana is actually used
In formal and legal contexts, cannabis is often preferred because it can refer more broadly to the plant and its uses. Weed and pot are common informal terms, while terms such as dope and reefer may sound dated, regional, or less neutral. The word can carry either neutral medical or legal connotations or negative connotations associated with prohibition and recreational use.
Easily confused with marijuana
Cannabis refers to the plant and to its many derived products, whereas marijuana usually refers specifically to dried cannabis material prepared for use as a drug.
Hemp is a cannabis variety cultivated mainly for fiber, seed, and industrial uses, while marijuana is cultivated or selected for its psychoactive cannabinoid content.