Etymology

copium

C3O1P3I1U1M3

Today it means: A metaphorical opiate taken in order to cope with a loss or disillusionment, often leading to one becoming detached from reality and in denial of their situation. Full definition →

English opium ← Ancient Greek ὄπιον (ópion) ← Latin opium
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The story

  1. Old Frenchcouper
  2. Englishcope
  3. Proto-Indo-European*sokʷós
  4. Ancient Greekὀπός (opós)
  5. Ancient Greekὄπιον (ópion)
  6. Latinopium
  7. Ancient Greekὄπιον (ópion)
  8. Englishopium
  9. English todaycopium

Blend of cope (“delusion, coping mechanism”) + opium. First cited usage points back to the album entitled Copium released by American rapper Keak da Sneak in 2003. The term was popularized in 2020 by a reaction image of Pepe the Frog hooked up to a gas cylinder labeled "copium". Sometimes reanalyzed as cope + -ium.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.