Last reviewed October 18, 2026
This cannabis glossary defines the terms you’ll meet on product pages and in our guides, in plain words. Terms are listed A to Z. Where we have a full guide on a term, the definition links to it.
- 510 thread
- The standard screw fitting on most vape cartridges and batteries. A 510 cart fits any 510 battery. 510 cartridge guide.
- AAA / AAAA
- Quality grades sellers give to flower, with AAAA the top grade. There’s no official standard; grades reflect a seller’s judgement of look, smell, trichome coverage and potency.
- BHO
- Butane hash oil: a concentrate extracted with butane, which is then purged out. Shatter, budder and live resin are usually BHO.
- Blunt
- Cannabis rolled in a cigar or tobacco-leaf wrap. Blunt vs joint.
- Budder
- A soft, creamy concentrate whipped during purging until it has a butter-like texture.
- Cart
- Short for cartridge: a pre-filled tank of cannabis oil that attaches to a battery.
- Crumble
- A dry, crumbly concentrate, similar to budder but drier.
- Cured resin
- An extract made from dried and cured plants, as opposed to live resin’s fresh-frozen plants. Cured resin vs live resin.
- Dab
- A small portion of concentrate vaporised on a hot surface, or the act of doing so. How to dab.
- Dab pen
- A portable vaporizer for concentrates. What is a dab pen?
- Decarboxylation (decarb)
- Heating cannabis to convert THCA into THC. Smoking does it instantly; cooking needs a separate step. How to decarb weed.
- Diamonds
- Crystals of nearly pure THCA grown from an extract. THC diamonds.
- Distillate
- A highly refined oil of a single cannabinoid, usually THC, with most other compounds removed. Common in carts and edibles.
- Edible
- Any cannabis product you eat or drink. Edibles take longer to work and last longer than smoking. Is 10 mg a lot?
- Flower
- The dried, cured buds of the cannabis plant: the part that’s smoked.
- Full spectrum
- An extract that keeps a wide range of the plant’s cannabinoids and terpenes, not just one compound.
- Hash
- Concentrated resin glands (trichomes) collected from the plant and pressed or packed together. Types of hash.
- Hash rosin
- Oil pressed out of hash with heat and pressure, without solvents. What is live rosin?
- Hybrid
- A strain bred from both indica and sativa plants. Different kinds of weed.
- Indica
- A plant type traditionally linked with a heavier, relaxing feel. Today’s strains are mostly hybrids, so the label is a rough guide.
- Kief
- Loose trichomes that collect at the bottom of a grinder.
- Liquid diamonds
- THCA diamonds melted and blended with terpene sauce into an oil for carts. Live resin vs liquid diamonds.
- Live resin
- An extract made from plants frozen at harvest, which keeps more of their terpenes.
- Pre-roll
- A joint sold already rolled.
- Rosin
- Oil pressed from flower or hash using only heat and pressure. Resin vs rosin.
- RSO
- Rick Simpson Oil: a thick, full-spectrum oil, usually taken orally from a syringe.
- Sativa
- A plant type traditionally linked with a lighter, more energetic feel. Like indica, it’s a rough guide rather than a rule.
- Sauce
- The terpene-rich liquid part of an extract, often sold with diamonds.
- Shake
- Small leaf and bud pieces that fall off flower during handling.
- Shatter
- A glass-like concentrate that snaps when cold. How to smoke shatter.
- Solventless
- Made using only water, ice, heat or pressure, like hash and rosin.
- Terpenes
- Aromatic compounds that give each strain its smell and flavour, such as limonene (citrus) and myrcene (earthy).
- THC
- Tetrahydrocannabinol, the compound that produces the high.
- THCA
- The raw, non-intoxicating form of THC in the plant. Heat converts it to THC.
- Tincture
- A liquid cannabis extract taken by dropper, often under the tongue. What is a tincture?
- Trichomes
- The tiny resin glands on the plant where THC and terpenes are made.
