n.1 a reddish-brown heavy-scented addictive drug prepared from the juice of the opium poppy, used in medicine as an analgesic and narcotic.
2 anything regarded as soothing or stupefying.
Phrases and idioms:
opium den a haunt of opium-smokers. opium poppy a poppy, Papaver somniferum, native to Europe and E. Asia, with white, red, pink, or purple flowers.
Etymology: ME f. L f. Gk opion poppy-juice f. opos juice