Marijuana (word)
name for the cannabis plant
Marijuana, or marihuana, is a name for the cannabis plant, specifically, a drug preparation from it. "Marijuana" as a term varies in usage, definition and legal application throughout the world. Some jurisdictions define "marijuana" as the whole cannabis plant or any part of it, while others refer to "marijuana" as a portion of the cannabis plant that contains high levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Some jurisdictions recognize "marijuana" as a distinctive strain of cannabis, the other being hemp. For legal, research and statistical reference, "marijuana" generally refers to only the dried leaves and flowering tops (herbal cannabis), with by-products such as hashish or hash oil being uniquely defined and regulated. A variety of theories have been postulated for origins of the term marijuana.
Etymology
Historically spelled variously as "marihuana" or "mariguana", that is believed to have originated in Mexican Spanish in its current form.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term may come from the Nahuatl mallihuan, meaning "prisoner". Another explanation on the etymology of marijuana focused on Mexican traditional healers or herbalists who sold cannabis in street markets. These, mostly, women, were called “Marias.” This combined with the argot for the revolutionary troops, “Juanes,” resulting in the word “Marihuana"
Author Martin Booth notes that this etymology was popularized by Harry J. Anslinger in the 1930s, during his campaigns against the drug.
“Marijuana (word)” enters the record as name for the cannabis plant. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Marijuana, word and name can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Marijuana (word)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Marijuana, word and name provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2289565. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Marijuana (word)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.