hash [L16th] A hash is a dish of cooked meat cut into small pieces and then reheated in gravy. Its 16th-century origin is a French word meaning ‘an axe’, from which *hatchet and the use of hatch [M17th] meaning ‘to mark a surface with close parallel lines to represent shading’, but LME in the sense of ‘to ornament with narrow stripes’, also derive. The hash sign (the sign #) only dates from the 1960s and is probably also from this use of hatch. Hashtag on social media is first recorded in 2007. In the 18th century hash developed the sense of ‘a jumble of mismatched parts’, which forms the basis of the modern expression to make a hash of [M17th]. Hash [M20th] for cannabis resin is a shortening of hashish [L16], which comes from Arabic al-ḥašı¯š, a specialised use of a term meaning ‘herbage, fodder, hay’.