Definition: Opium
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin opium and Ancient Greek ὄπιον or ópion, from ὀπός or opós (juice of a plant), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷos (juice, resin).
Noun
opium (countable and uncountable, plural opiums or opia)
- (uncountable) A yellow-brown, addictive narcotic drug obtained from the dried juice of unripe pods of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, and containing alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, and papaverine.
- (by extension, countable) Anything that numbs or stupefies.
Derived terms
- lettuce opium
- opium alkaloid
- opium poppy
- Opium Wars
Credits
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