420

See also: 4-2-0 and 4/20

English

Pronunciation

  • Audio (General Australian):(file)
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Etymology 1

So named because it is 420 centimetres long.

Noun

420 (plural 420s)

  1. A particular type of monohull dinghy with two sails, designed for two people.

Etymology 2

Likely influenced by the time (4:20 pm) a particular group would meet in search of marijuana, circa 1971; subsequently spread as a cipher through the San Francisco Bay area and adopted among Grateful Dead fans.[1][2]

Alternative forms

Noun

420 (uncountable) (slang, especially Canada, US)

  1. Cannabis.
    • 2025 April 20, Sandee LaMotte, “Marijuana hospital visits linked to dementia diagnosis within 5 years, study finds”, in CNN‎[1]:
      Sunday is 420 day, when lovers of marijuana get together to celebrate their fondness for weed.
  2. (usually as a modifier) Pertaining to cannabis, its consumption, or cannabis culture.
    Late nights at the recording studio were always 420 friendly.
  3. April 20 (abbreviated 4/20 in the US), as an occasion to celebrate cannabis culture.

References

  1. ^ Oxford Dictionaries, "We added 420 to the OED. Here’s how it happened.", 20 April 2017
  2. ^ Oxford Living Dictionaries, "420"

Further reading

Anagrams

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