opium English · revision 807
10 Oct 2026, 23:38 by bogdan “New entry from the dictionary sources (AHD, Barnhart, Etymonline, MW, OED, RHWU, Wiktionary, Hoad, MED, Word Origins)” current version
Initial text
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /ˈəʊ.pi.əm/ ''(UK)''; /ˈoʊ.pi.əm/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|enm|opium]], ''opion'',^(AHD)^(MED) [[bor|la|opium]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) [[der|grc|ὄπιον|tr=ópion|t=poppy juice]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) a diminutive of ''opós'' “vegetable juice, sap”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) The Greek word goes back to a PIE root meaning “juice, resin”, which also gave Lithuanian ''sakai'' “resin”.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The thickened juice of the opium poppy, used as an analgesic and to induce sleep (1392 in Barnhart; 1398 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)^(MED)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ Opium has been especially used in medicine since the 17th century for relieving pain and producing sleep.^(Etymonline) Figuratively, any stupefying agent has been called ''opium'' since 1608,^(OED 1989) often with reference to religion in the phrase ''the opium of the people'', a translation of Karl Marx's ''Opium des Volks'' (1843–44).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The ''opium-eater'', a habitual user, is recorded by 1821,^(Etymonline) and the name of the British ''Opium War'' against China (1839–42) from 1841.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1392 – the drug.^(Barnhart 1995)
+ * 1608 – figuratively, any stupefying agent.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1821 – ''opium-eater''.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1841 – ''Opium War''.^(Etymonline)
+ * 1844 – Marx's “opium of the people”.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A bitter, yellowish-brown, strongly addictive [[narcotic]] drug made from the dried juice of the unripe seed pods of the [[opium poppy]], containing [[alkaloid|alt=alkaloids]] such as [[morphine]] and [[codeine]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+ # Something that numbs or stupefies, or that soothes the mind into inaction.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[opiumism]]
+ * [[opium poppy]]
+ * [[Opium War]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[opiate]]
+ * [[opioid]]
+ * [[laudanum]]
+ * [[morphine]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}