the dried, condensed juice of a poppy, Papaver somniferum, that has a narcotic, soporific, analgesic, and astringent effect and contains morphine, codeine, papaverine, and other alkaloids used in medicine in their isolated or derived forms: a narcotic substance, poisonous in large doses.
anything that causes dullness or inaction or that soothes the mind or emotions.
Origin of opium
1350–1400;Middle English < Latin < Greekópion poppy juice, equivalent to op(ós) sap, juice + -ion diminutive suffix
the dried juice extracted from the unripe seed capsules of the opium poppy that contains alkaloids such as morphine and codeine: used in medicine as an analgesic
something having a tranquillizing or stupefying effect
Word Origin for opium
C14: from Latin: poppy juice, from Greek opion, diminutive of opos juice of a plant
late 14c., from Latin opium, from Greek opion "poppy juice, poppy," diminutive of opos "vegetable juice."
Die Religion ist der Seufzer der bedrängten Kreatur, das Gemüth einer herzlosen Welt, wie sie der Geist geistloser Zustände ist. Sie ist das Opium des Volks. [Karl Marx, "Zur Kritik der Hegel'schen Rechts-Philosophie," in "Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher," February, 1844]
The British Opium War against China lasted from 1839-42; the name is attested from 1841.
A bitter, yellowish-brown, strongly addictive narcotic drug prepared from the dried juice of unripe pods of the opium poppy and containing alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, and papaverine.meconium
