opium

opium — noun

1. a strong drug from poppy juice, once used as medicine for bad pain or sleep, but

1.nounC2
Definition

a strong drug from poppy juice, once used as medicine for bad pain or sleep, but also taken illegally because it can easily cause dependence.

Example

Doctors once used opium to calm severe pain after surgery.

used opium to + verb

The police found bags of opium under the truck seat.

Common collocations
  • smoke opium
  • opium trade
  • opium addiction
  • opium pipe
  • opium den
Synonyms
  • opiate

    a medical word for opium itself or a drug directly related to it

  • narcotic

    more formal and broader; covers other drugs that reduce pain or cause sleep

  • painkiller

    everyday and much broader; many painkillers are not opium

Grammar Patterns

smoke/use opium

opium + trade/addiction/pipe/den

Usage Note

Usually treated as an uncountable noun. Common with words about history, trade, addiction, and smoking, such as 'opium trade', 'opium den', and 'smoke opium'.

Common Mistakes

The farmer planted opium behind the house.
The farmer planted poppies behind the house.
'opium' is the drug; the plant is the poppy.
The nurse gave me an opium for my headache.
The nurse gave me pain medicine for my headache.
'opium' is not a general countable word for an ordinary medicine.

Word family

  • opiate
    noun / adjectiveC2
  • opioid
    noun / adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Opium' is the original drug taken from the poppy plant. 'Opiate' is a more technical word and usually means opium itself or drugs made directly from it, such as morphine or codeine. 'Opioid' is broader and more modern: it also includes laboratory-made drugs with a similar effect. 'Narcotic' often appears in law, news, and police reports, but it can be less exact because it may cover different illegal or controlled drugs. 'Painkiller' is the everyday word and is much wider; aspirin is a painkiller, but it is not opium. Compare: 'Traders carried opium across the sea,' 'The patient received an opioid after surgery,' and 'Police seized narcotics at the border.'

opium ↗opiateopioidnarcoticpainkiller ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • opium poppy
  • opium trade
  • opium addiction
  • opium pipe
  • opium den

Phrases

  • smoke opium
  • use opium
  • be addicted to opium
  • sell opium

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

English borrowed 'opium' from Latin, which had taken it from Greek 'opion'. That Greek word meant poppy juice and came from a shorter word meaning juice or plant sap. The history fits the substance itself: opium is made from the sticky liquid collected from the poppy plant.