The Etymology of Hemp and Why Words Matter

Lately on the podcast, I’ve been wrestling with a question of language.

What does the word hemp really mean, where did that meaning come from, how has it shifted over time, and who gets to define the word hemp today?

For a thousand years, hemp was known as the plant or material that you made things from — things like rope, cloth and paper.

But now when people hear the word hemp, they think about weed. And that’s not helpful for a nascent industry trying to raise capital, build infrastructure and develop markets.

To help me sort out the history and meaning of the word hemp, I spoke with Oxford University Professor Lynda Mugglestone, a historian of the English language, a lexicographer and an expert in how words evolve and collide with law, commerce and culture.

“You would be cheered to know that hemp as a plant grown for fiber has history on its side. If we go right back to Old English we can see the very earliest kind of herbals and leech books talking about hemp,” Mugglestone said.

For most of its long life in English, hemp meant the fiber plant grown for ropes, sails and home spun fabrics, and that meaning was stable for centuries. It was a household word, part of daily life, tied to farming and industry.

But language doesn't sit still, and hemp is no exception. Over time, new uses for the word hemp have crept in. First medicinal, then psychoactive, and now commercial forces are pulling hemp in more directions.

While lawmakers try to impose definitions and industries fight for market share, ordinary people just keep using the word however they want.

That's how language works.

But the original meaning hasn’t gone anywhere — the fiber, the grain and the plant with history behind it. That meaning is still there and perhaps more robust today than at any time in the past 80 years.

But the meaning of hemp has been expanded, like it or not, to include these new definitions, including that hemp can be THC-a flower or that hemp can get you high.

Of course, I disagree with this new definition. Hemp that gets you high isn’t hemp. Call it pot, call it weed, call it what you will, just don’t call it hemp.

As Mugglestone, paraphrasing Samuel Johnson, said, “Words, like their author, when they're not gaining strength, they're generally losing it.”

So there you go, fiber and grain folks. You know what to do. Claim the word hemp and make it grow strong. You are hemp’s rightful heir. Be the signal in the noise.

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Books by Lynda Mugglestone, author of a range of books on English words and how they get used and recorded.Recent books include:

Dictionaries. A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, paperback)

Samuel Johnson and the Journey into Words (OUP, paperback)

Writing a War of Words: Andrew Clark and the Search for meaning in World War One (Oxford University Press, hardback)

 

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Credits: Produced by Eric Hurlock, mixed and mastered by Justin Berger