Meanings
- uncountableA 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.
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 1692 more examples
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 277When Zhang Jiao and his Yellow Turbans send their peasants, they're not sending their best. They're sending peasants with lots of problems and the peasants bring their problems across the Yangtze. They're bringing opium, they're bandits. And some, I assume, are good people.
2026 January 27, obongommunism, Instagram, depicts the speaker as U.S. President Donald Trump as a Han dynasty emperor - broadlycountableAnything that numbs or stupefies.
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, […] It is the opium of the people.
A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right
1843, Karl Marx, Zur Kritik der Hegelschen Rechtsphilosophie [A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right]Synonyms: opiate
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAnything that numbs or stupefies.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*sokʷós
- Ancient Greekὀπός (opós)
- Ancient Greekὄπιον (ópion)
- Latinopium
- Ancient Greekὄπιον (ópion)
- Englishopium
Borrowed from Latin opium and Ancient Greek ὄπιον (ópion), from ὀπός (opós, “juice of a plant”), from Proto-Indo-European *sokʷós (“juice, resin”).
More words from Latin, Ancient Greek, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek μηκώνιον, ὄπιον
- μηκώνιον (mēkṓnion)drug from opium poppy
- ὄπιον (ópion)drug from opium poppy
Arabic أَفْيُون
- أَفْيُون (ʔafyūn)drug from opium poppy
Bengali আফিম
- আফিম (aphim)drug from opium poppy
Bulgarian о́пиум
- о́пиум (ópium)drug from opium poppy
Catalan opi
- opidrug from opium poppy
Chinese Cantonese 鴉片 /鸦片
- 鴉片 /鸦片 (aa¹ pin³)drug from opium poppy
Chinese Mandarin 鴉片 /鸦片, 阿片
- 鴉片 /鸦片 (yāpiàn)drug from opium poppy
- 阿片 (āpiàn)drug from opium poppy
- 阿芙蓉 (āfúróng)drug from opium poppy
- 鴉片 /鸦片 (yāpiàn)anything that numbs or stupefies
- 麻藥 /麻药 (máyào)anything that numbs or stupefies
Czech opium
- opiumdrug from opium poppy
Danish opium
- opiumdrug from opium poppy
Dutch opium, opium
- opiumdrug from opium poppy
- opiumanything that numbs or stupefies
Esperanto opio
- opiodrug from opium poppy
Estonian oopium
- oopiumdrug from opium poppy
Finnish oopiumi, oopiumi
- oopiumidrug from opium poppy
- oopiumianything that numbs or stupefies
French opium
- opiumdrug from opium poppy
German Opium, Opium
- Opiumdrug from opium poppy
- Opiumanything that numbs or stupefies
Greek όπιο, όπιο
- όπιο (ópio)drug from opium poppy
- όπιο (ópio)anything that numbs or stupefies
Hawaiian ʻopiuma
- ʻopiumadrug from opium poppy
Hebrew אוֹפְּיוּם
- אוֹפְּיוּם (ópyum)drug from opium poppy
Hindi अफ़ीम, अहिफेन
- अफ़ीम (afīm)drug from opium poppy
- अहिफेन (ahiphen)drug from opium poppy
- अफेन (aphen)drug from opium poppy
Hungarian ópium, áfium
- ópiumdrug from opium poppy
- áfiumdrug from opium poppy
Icelandic ópíum, ópíum
- ópíumdrug from opium poppy
- ópíumanything that numbs or stupefies
Indonesian apiun, candu
- apiundrug from opium poppy
- candudrug from opium poppy
- madatdrug from opium poppy
- opiumdrug from opium poppy
Irish óipiam
- óipiamdrug from opium poppy
Italian oppio
- oppiodrug from opium poppy
Japanese 鴉片, 阿片
- 鴉片 (ahen)drug from opium poppy
- 阿片 (ahen)drug from opium poppy
- オピウム (opiumu)drug from opium poppy
Korean 아편
- 아편 (apyeon)drug from opium poppy
Lithuanian opijus, opiumas
- opijusdrug from opium poppy
- opiumasdrug from opium poppy
Malay candu, candu
- candudrug from opium poppy
- candudrug from opium poppy
Māori opiuma
- opiumadrug from opium poppy
Norwegian Bokmål opium
- opiumdrug from opium poppy
Persian افیون
- افیون (afyun)drug from opium poppy
Polish opium, opium
- opiumdrug from opium poppy
- opiumanything that numbs or stupefies
- opium dla masanything that numbs or stupefies
Portuguese ópio
- ópiodrug from opium poppy
Punjabi ਅਫੀਮ
- ਅਫੀਮ (aphīm)drug from opium poppy
Romanian opiu
- opiudrug from opium poppy
Russian о́пий, о́пиум
- о́пий (ópij)drug from opium poppy
- о́пиум (ópium)drug from opium poppy
Slovak ópium
- ópiumdrug from opium poppy
Spanish opio, anfión
- opiodrug from opium poppy
- anfióndrug from opium poppy
Swahili afyuni
- afyunidrug from opium poppy
Swedish opium
- opiumdrug from opium poppy
Tagalog opyum, opyo
- opyumdrug from opium poppy
- opyodrug from opium poppy
- apyandrug from opium poppy
- ampiyondrug from opium poppy
Tamil அபினி, அபின்
- அபினி (apiṉi)drug from opium poppy
- அபின் (apiṉ)drug from opium poppy
Thai ฝิ่น
- ฝิ่น (fìn)drug from opium poppy
Turkish afyon
- afyondrug from opium poppy
Ukrainian о́пій, о́піум
- о́пій (ópij)drug from opium poppy
- о́піум (ópium)drug from opium poppy
Urdu افیون
- افیون (afyūn)drug from opium poppy
Vietnamese thuốc phiện, á phiện
- thuốc phiệndrug from opium poppy
- á phiệndrug from opium poppy
Welsh opiwm
- opiwmdrug from opium poppy
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with opium
All rhymes →Cite this entry
opium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opium
“opium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opium. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “opium,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/opium.
Source: opium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.