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laudanum

[ lawd-n-uhm, lawd-nuhm ]
/ ˈlɔd n əm, ˈlɔd nəm /
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noun
a tincture of opium.
Obsolete. any preparation in which opium is the chief ingredient.
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Origin of laudanum

1595–1605; originally Medieval Latin variant of ladanum; arbitrarily used by Paracelsus to name a remedy based on opium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use laudanum in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for laudanum

laudanum
/ (ˈlɔːdənəm) /

noun
a tincture of opium
(formerly) any medicine of which opium was the main ingredient

Word Origin for laudanum

C16: New Latin, name chosen by Paracelsus for a preparation probably containing opium, perhaps based on labdanum
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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