What does "indica" mean?

Any of the indica subspecies of the rice, Oryza sativa, which (unlike the japonica or sinica subspecies) are non-sticky and long-grained.

Indica

//ˈɪn.dɪ.kə// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Any of the indica subspecies of the rice, Oryza sativa, which (unlike the japonica or sinica subspecies) are non-sticky and long-grained.
"The isograms were typical of differences between two subspecies but also of those between different lines of japonicas or indicas."
2
Marijuana of the species Cannabis indica.
"Most commonly grown strains of cannabis are sativa, indica, or a hybrid of the two. Sativas have long skinny leaves; indicas have short, fat, stubby leaves."

""Is it an indica or a sativa?" "It's a hybrid.""

From Latin indica, from being associated with the Indian Subcontinent.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.