Toke

A toke is a colloquial term for a single hit or puff of cannabis, and as a verb means to inhale cannabis smoke. Lexicographic sources place the verb (to smoke a marijuana cigarette) in U.S. slang from ~1952 and the noun (a puff on a marijuana cigarette or pipe) from ~1968. The widely cited etymology derives the term from the Spanish verb tocar ("to touch, tap, or hit"; noun toque). Merriam-Webster gives origin as "American Spanish toque, from tocar to touch, from Vulgar Latin toccare." An earlier and unrelated 19th-century British slang sense ("small piece of poor-quality bread") is documented but not considered the source. Note — disputed etymology: The Spanish-origin theory is dominant but not universally accepted; Online Etymology Dictionary and Wiktionary hedge it as "perhaps" or "presumably." Citations: Harper D. Online Etymology Dictionary, s.v. "toke"; Merriam-Webster Dictionary, s.v. "toke"; Green's Dictionary of Slang.