The e-cigarette glossary

Vape, cartridges, sub ohm, clearomiser: these are the words that make up the vocabulary of the e-cigarette. Such slightly odd terms can put newcomers off. In reality they are easy to remember and to place. Here is a short glossary of electronic cigarette jargon.

Terms specific to the e-cigarette

Vapers is the current word for the community of e-cigarette users. You will therefore hear about “vaping”, that is to say using your electronic cigarette. Nothing complicated so far. But look at the components of an electronic cigarette and the terms can quickly become hard to digest.

There is no need to panic, though: you do not need a doctorate in engineering to vape. Even if some of the English terms sound daunting, such as sub ohm, which means vaping with a coil rated below 1 ohm, in other words a very low resistance, you will soon get used to the jargon.

The various parts of an e-cigarette

Here is a brief list of the components of an electronic cigarette:

• The clearomiser (or atomiser) heats the e-liquid in order to create the vapour you inhale
• The starter kit is a complete set for taking up vaping. It usually contains a battery, a clearomiser and an electronic cigarette
• The switch is simply the button used to vape. It prevents the atomiser from overheating thanks to an automatic cut-off
• The drip tip is the mouthpiece
• The tank is the reservoir holding the e-liquid
• The coil is a wick that sits in the e-liquid and heats it to turn it into vapour
• The accumulator is quite simply the battery cell of the electronic cigarette
• The box is the main housing of your e-cigarette, controlling temperature and power
• The screen, found only on recent models, tells the vaper the temperature, the power and so on
• The buttons are used to set the power, the temperature or even the vaping mode
• Mod: a device better suited to experienced users who want to vape at a precise voltage
• The cartridge holds the e-liquid. Some are sold prefilled