opium
/ˈəʊpɪəm
/noun [mass noun]
A reddish-brown heavy-scented addictive drug prepared from the juice of the opium poppy, used illicitly as a narcotic and occasionally in medicine as an analgesic: he was addicted to opium...
- Surgeons would attempt to stupefy the patient with alcohol, opium, or morphia, but with little effect.
- Both are controlled drugs, and staff handed the morphine and opium over to the Home Office Drugs Inspectorate.
- These suggestions were based on evidence that showed that opium was addictive.
Phrases
the opium of the people (or masses)
Origin
Late Middle English: via Latin from Greek opion 'poppy juice', from opos 'juice', from an Indo-European root meaning 'water'.
The name of this drug comes ultimately from the Greek word opion ‘poppy juice’. The opium of the people is something regarded as giving people a false sense of security and contentment. The phrase originated as a direct translation of the German Opium des Volks, as used by the founder of modern Communism, Karl Marx, in 1843–44.