marijuana

Alternative forms

• marihuana (less common)

Etymology

Borrowed from Mexican Spanish marihuana, from mariguana. First attested in 1874 in the publications of Hubert Howe Bancroft. Altered by influence of a folk etymology involving the proper name María Juana (“Mary Jane”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌmɛɹɪˈwɑ.nə/, /ˌmæɹ-/, /-ˈhwɑ-/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌmæɹɪˈwɑː.nə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

marijuana (usually uncountable, plural marijuanas)

2. The inflorescence of the Cannabis sativa plant, smoked or ingested for euphoric effect.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:marijuana

   After smoking a bowl of that fine marijuana, they ate some brownies.

   • 1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 13, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC, part 1:

     You could smell tea, weed, I mean marijuana, floating in the air, together with the chili beans and beer.

   • 2017 April 2, “Marijuana”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 4, episode 7, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:

     Exactly. Marijuana is something we just all gradually decided is okay, like Mark Wahlberg as a serious actor. “You know what? Sure, I’ve decided I’m fine with that.”

3. The hemp plant itself, Cannabis sativa.

See also

• Appendix:Cannabis slang

Further reading

• marijuana on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• marijuana (word) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “marijuana”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.ʁi.ʁwa.na/, /ma.ʁi.ʒɥa.na/

Noun

marijuana f (plural marijuanas)

1. marijuana, cannabis

Further reading

• “marijuana”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.