Gunjah

/ˈɡʌndʒə/ noun

Definition

An alternate spelling variant of 'ganja'; cannabis or marijuana, reflecting 19th-century transliteration conventions in English colonial texts.

Etymology

From Sanskrit 'gañjā' with the '-ah' ending typical of older English orientalist texts and colonial writing. This spelling appears frequently in 19th-century British literature and scientific texts dealing with Indian products.

Kelly Says

Colonial-era texts used 'gunjah,' 'ganja,' 'gunjas' inconsistently—there was no standardized spelling until dictionaries eventually chose 'ganja' as the default, showing how arbitrary spelling standardization can be.

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