noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hænep; akin to Old High German hanaf hemp, Greek kannabis Date: before 12th century
1. a tall widely cultivated Asian herb ( Cannabis sativa of the family Cannabaceae, the hemp family) that has a tough bast fiber used especially for cordage and that is often separated into a tall loosely branched species ( C. sativa ) and a low-growing densely branched species ( C. indica ), the fiber of hemp, a psychoactive drug (as marijuana or hashish) from hemp, a fiber (as jute) from a plant other than the true hemp