Vap

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. A shortened form used to refer to the inhalation of vapor from an electronic cigarette or similar device ; an alternate spelling or abbreviation in various technical or informal contexts ; a casual or colloquial variant sometimes seen for words relating to vaporization or vapor
2. An informal or abbreviated way to denote inhaling aerosol from an e-cigarette ; a nonstandard spelling or shorthand for vapor or vape in certain writings ; a term occasionally used for processes involving vapor or vapor devices
3. An alternate colloquial spelling signifying the use of an e-cigarette or similar vaporizer ; an abbreviation representing concepts tied to vapor in specific fields ; a rarely used informal contraction for the act of inhaling vapor

Etymology: The verb "vape" was coined in the early 2010s, and its origin is a shortening of "vapor" (American spelling of "vapour"), the fine mist produced by heating a liquid. "Vapour" comes from Latin "vapor," meaning steam or exhalation, and entered English in the 1500s through Middle French. The earliest use in the sense of e-cigarette aerosol appears around 2009 to 2010, when devices marketed as electronic cigarettes began to be called "vaporizers," and users shortened that to "vape." The verb form "vape" first meant to use such a device and inhale the aerosol, and the noun "vape" came to refer to the device itself or the vapor it produces. The older word "vaporizer" had long existed for medical inhalers and herbal-vapor devices, so the newer term grew out of that existing vocabulary rather than being invented from scratch.