Hashish
/ˈhæʃ.iʃ/noun
A concentrated resinous preparation of cannabis, usually smoked or eaten.
Did you know?Medieval Europeans linked hashish users to the Nizari Ismailis and the legend of the “Hashshashin,” a story that later fed the English word assassin, though historians debate how much of that tale is propaganda.
Etymological Timeline
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
ḥašīš
“grass, dried herb; later cannabis resin or hemp preparations”
12th-13th Century
Arabic
ḥašīšiyyīn
“a name associated in later sources with the Nizari Ismailis, likely meaning 'hashish-eaters' or a polemical label”
13th Century
Medieval Latin
assassinus
“a hired killer; a term shaped by European reports about the Hashshashin legend”
16th-17th Century
French/Italian
hachisch / haschisch
“hashish, cannabis resin”
19th Century
English
hashish
“the resinous drug prepared from cannabis”