Vape

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /veɪp/

Definitions

1. The practice of inhaling aerosolized substances from a battery-operated device often involves flavor enjoyment and the intake of specific active ingredients
2. To draw in and breathe out vapor produced by an electronic cigarette or similar device
3. The act of using a device that heats a liquid to create an inhalable mist

Etymology: The verb "vape" is a clipping of "vaporize," which in turn was built in English from the Latin "vapor," meaning steam or breath, with the Greek-derived suffix "-ize." The original word for the gaseous exhalation is far older than the device: "vapor" travelled through Old French "vapeur" into Middle English, while "-ize" came into English from Late Latin "-izare," itself borrowed from Greek "-izein," which made verbs meaning to make or to treat in a certain way. "Vaporize" was therefore a straightforward English coinage: to turn something into vapour. The shortened form "vape" came later, formed by trimming the end of "vaporizer," the name for the devices that heat liquids into an inhalable mist. The noun "vape" was then clipped in the same way, so the familiar word for the device and the act of using it both descend from a Latin word for breath.

Synonyms: inhale, smoke, exhale