opium Hear it!

opium definition

opium (ō′pē əm)

noun

  1. a yellow to dark brown, addicting, narcotic drug prepared from the juice of the unripe seed capsules of the opium poppy: it contains such alkaloids as morphine, codeine, and papaverine, and is used as an intoxicant and medicinally to relieve pain and produce sleep
  2. anything that has a tranquilizing or stupefying effect

Etymology: L < Gr opion < opos, vegetable juice < IE base *s(w)ekwos-, plant juice > OProv sackis

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.