laudanum

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an alcoholic tincture of opium formerly used as a painkiller, sedative, and sleep aid

   The doctor recognized the bitter smell of laudanum in the decanter.

From New Latin laudanum, a name used by Paracelsus for a medicinal compound, adapted from Latin ladanum and Greek ladan(on), a fragrant gum resin. His followers later applied the name specifically to preparations containing opium, producing the modern pharmaceutical sense.

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