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Definition of opium noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

opium

noun
 
/ˈəʊpiəm/
 
/ˈəʊpiəm/
[uncountable]
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  1. a powerful drug made from the juice of a type of poppy (= a kind of flower), used in the past in medicines to reduce pain and help people sleep. Some people take opium illegally for pleasure and can become addicted to it.
    • opium poppies
    • the opium trade
    Topics Social issuesc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + opium
    • smoke
    opium + noun
    • poppy
    • den
    See full entry
    Word Originlate Middle English: via Latin from Greek opion ‘poppy juice’, from opos ‘juice’, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘water’.
See opium in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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