opiate

Etymology

The noun is partly borrowed from Middle French opiate, recorded in 1336 (later opiat), and partly borrowed from Medieval Latin opiātum (“a drug derived from opium”), recorded from before 1250.^[2][3][4] The adjective is borrowed from Medieval Latin opiātus (“soporific”), recorded from the 10th century.^{[2][5][6][7][8]} Both are formed from Latin opium with the suffix -ātus;^[2][8][9] the Shorter Oxford takes them from the participial stem of a medieval Latin verb formed from opium.^[10] Latin opium is from Ancient Greek ὄπιον (ópion, “poppy juice”), a diminutive of ὀπός (opós, “vegetable juice”),^[2][6][11] which the OED and Klein connect with Lithuanian sakai (“resin”).^[2][11] The verb is formed from English opium + -ate, in early use after Italian oppiare.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A medicine containing opium, used to bring sleep or relieve pain: probably before 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.^[2] Etymonline dates the noun to the early 15th century,^[6] and Barnhart knows only a single example before 1425, with regular use of the noun from 1603.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The adjective, "made with or containing opium", hence "inducing sleep, narcotic", followed in 1543,^[2][6][8] and Johnson (1755) defined it as causing sleep, quoting Bacon.^[13] The figurative sense of something that soothes or dulls the feelings or causes inaction is recorded for the adjective before 1626, in Lancelot Andrewes,^[2][5] and for the noun in 1641, in Milton.^[2][6] The verb, "to put to sleep with opium" (1598, in Florio), is obsolete, but its figurative sense "to dull, stupefy" (1650) survives.^[2] From 1685 to 1770 an opiate was also a paste used to clean the teeth.^[2] The phrase the opiate of the people, a version of the opium of the people, is recorded from 1920.^[2] In the 20th century the noun was extended to any addictive drug with effects like those of morphine,^[2][8] and in pharmacology it is now used of the drugs, such as morphine and heroin, that act on the opioid receptors.^[14]

Timeline

• probably before 1425 – noun, a medicine containing opium, given to induce sleep or ease pain.^[2]
• 1543 – adjective, made with or containing opium; narcotic.^[2][5][8]
• 1598 – verb, to put to sleep with opium (now obsolete).^[2]
• before 1626 – adjective, figurative, dulling the senses; causing inaction.^[2][5]
• 1641 – noun, figurative, something that soothes or dulls the senses.^[2][6]
• 1650 – verb, figurative, to make dull or numb.^[2]
• 1685 – a paste used as a dentifrice (obsolete by 1770).^[2]
• 1920 – the opiate of the people.^[2]
• 1929 – any drug thought to be as addictive as morphine or cocaine.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A drug derived from opium, such as morphine or codeine, used to relieve pain or induce sleep: The patient was given an opiate after surgery.^[8][14][2]
2. Any narcotic or sedative drug, including synthetic ones with similar effects.^[14][8][2]
3. Something that soothes, dulls the feelings or brings on inaction: For him, television was an opiate.^[14][2]

Adjective

1. Containing or mixed with opium.^[8][14][2]
2. Inducing sleep or relaxation; soporific.^[8][14][2]
3. Causing dullness or inaction.^[8][2]

Verb

1. To put under the influence of an opiate.^[8][10]
2. To dull or deaden: Years of routine had opiated her curiosity.^[8][2][10]
3. To mix with opium.^[8]

Word family

• opiatic

Related words

• opium
• opioid

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
12. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins