Etymologically
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opium

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɔ.pi.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɔː.pi.um][1]

Forms

opium n (genitive opiī or opī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ὄπιον (ópion, “poppy juice”),[2][1] a diminutive of ὀπός (opós, “plant juice”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷos (“juice, resin”).[1][3] The form opion is also found.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder describes poppy juice in his Natural History.[4][6] Köbler dates him 23/24–79 AD.[7]

Semantic evolution

It was poppy juice, opium, used in medicine, as in Scribonius Largus and Pliny Valerianus.[2][6] Isidore of Seville and Oribasius also mention it.[5]

In medieval medicine it was opium, sometimes named by its place of origin, as Theban opium.[8] English opium is recorded in the late 14th century.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 47 AD – Scribonius Largus uses it in medicine.[6][7]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder describes it.[4][7]
  • late 14th century – Borrowed into English as opium.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Poppy juice, opium.[2][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press