ˈōpēəm noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin, from Greek opion poppy juice, opium, diminutive of opos vegetable juice, sap; perhaps akin to Latin sucus, succus juice, sap — more at succulent
1. : a drug that consists of the dried milky juice of the opium poppy obtained from incisions made in the unripe capsules of the plant, that has a brownish yellow color, a faint smell, and a bitter and acrid taste, that is a stimulant narcotic poison usually producing a feeling of well-being, hallucinations, and drowsiness terminating in coma or death if the dose is excessive, that was formerly much used in medicine to soothe pain but is now often replaced by derivative alkaloids (as morphine or codeine) or synthetic substitutes, that is smoked as an intoxicant with baneful effects, and that on continued use in any form causes an addiction which is difficult to break and eventually results in physical and mental deterioration
2. : something having an effect like that of opium : stupefier