Hĕmp, n.
n. [A.-S. henep, hēnep, hanep, D. hennep, hennip, kennip, kennap, Dan. hamp, Sw. hampa, Icel. hampr, O. H. Ger. hanaf, N. H. Ger. hanf, allied to Lat. cannabis, cannabum, Gr. κάνναβις, κάνναβος, Pol. konopj, Russ. konoplia, Per. kun-nap, Skr. çana.]
Sense 1. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Cannabis (C. sativa), whose fibrous skin or bark is used for cloth and cordage.
Sense 2. The skin or rind of the plant, prepared for spinning.
Senegal hemp is obtained from a leguminous plant, Crotolaria Juncea. African hemp is an exceedingly tough fiber obtained from an endogenous plant of the genus Sansevieria.