opium
/ˈəʊ.pi.əm/US/ˈoʊ.pi.əm/
opium noun: a yellow-brown, addictive narcotic drug obtained from the dried juice of unripe pods of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, and containing alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, and papaverine.
Noun
opium (countable and uncountable, plural opiums or opia)
- A yellow-brown, addictive narcotic drug obtained from the dried juice of unripe pods of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, and containing alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, and papaverine.
- From hence we firſt ſailed to Achin, in the iſland of Sumatra, and then to Siam, where we bartered our wares for ſome arrack and opium, the laſt of which bore a great price among the Chineſe:[…]1777, [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], 7th edition, London: […] S. Crowder, […]; J. Sewell, […]; W. Johnston, […]; and B. Law, […], →OCLC, page 277
- Opium is largely used by the Chinese as a sexual provocation, both by men and women.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 169
- Anything that numbs or stupefies.
- Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, […] It is the opium of the people.1843, Karl Marx, Zur Kritik der Hegelschen Rechtsphilosophie [A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right]
- Synonyms:
- opiate
opium meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
opium in Hindi
- drug from opium poppy
- अफ़ीम afīm, अहिफेन ahiphen, अफेन aphen
opium in Tamil
- drug from opium poppy
- அபினி apiṉi, அபின் apiṉ
opium in Marathi
- opium
- अफू aphū
opium in Urdu
- drug from opium poppy
- افیون afyūn
More languagesFewer languages
- opium in Bengali
- আফিম aphim
- opium in Telugu
- నల్లమందు nallamandu, అభిని abhini
- opium in Malayalam
- കറുപ്പ് kaṟuppŭ, അവീൻ avīṉ
- opium in Kannada
- ಅಫೀಮು aphīmu, ಎಲೆಮದ್ದು elemaddu
- opium in Punjabi
- ਅਫੀਮ aphīm
- opium in Gujarati
- અફીણ aphīṇ, અહિફેન ahiphen
- opium in Odia
- ଅଫିମ aphima
- opium in Sanskrit
- अहिफेन ahiphena
- opium in Sinhala
- අබිං abiṁ, කංසා kaṁsā, මාඩා māḍā
- opium in Assamese
- কানি kani, আফিং aphiṅ
- opium in Nepali
- अफिम aphim
- opium in Pashto
- اپيم apim, اپين apin
- opium in Tagalog
- opyum, opyo, apyan, ampiyon
- opium in Arabic
- أَفْيُون ʔafyūn
- opium in Malay
- candu
- opium in Indonesian
- apiun, candu, madat, opium
- opium in Persian
- افیون afyun
- opium in Thai
- ฝิ่น fìn
- opium in Vietnamese
- thuốc phiện, á phiện
- opium in Myanmar
- ဘိန်း bhin:
- Sindhi
- आफ़ीम āfīma
Examples of opium in a sentence
- Alcohol, opium and laughing gas are intoxicants.
- Meconic acid constitutes about 5% of opium.
- To the railway's official mindset, it might as well have been an opium den in Victorian London.
Synonyms of opium
18 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of opium
| plural | opiums |
|---|---|
| plural | opia |
Origin of opium
Borrowed from Latin opium and Ancient Greek ὄπιον (ópion), from ὀπός (opós, “juice of a plant”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷós (“juice, resin”).
Words formed from opium
Phrases with opium
Words that rhyme with opium
Questions about opium
- What does opium mean?
- Opium means a yellow-brown, addictive narcotic drug obtained from the dried juice of unripe pods of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, and containing alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, and papaverine.
- What is opium in Hindi?
- Opium in Hindi is अफ़ीम (afīm), अहिफेन (ahiphen), अफेन (aphen). See Opium meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is opium?
- Opium is a noun.
- How do you pronounce opium?
- Opium is pronounced /ˈoʊ.pi.əm/ (US).
- What is the plural of opium?
- The plural of opium is opiums.
Words near opium in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: opium (page history and authors); अफू (Marathi) (page history and authors); ଅଫିମ (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-opium.wav.
Cite this entry: “opium.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/opium. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.