laudanum
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L323105 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈlɔːdənəm/ / /ˈlɔːdnəm/ / /ˈlɒdənəm/
noun
Etymology: From New Latin, from lādanum (“a gum resin”), from Ancient Greek λᾱ́δανον (lā́danon). Originally the same word as ladanum, labdanum, compare French laudanum, Italian laudano, ladano. Perhaps influenced by Latin laudō (“to praise”). See ladanum. Used by Paracelsus to refer to ladanum gum, and to a compound recipe containing pearls, but apparently not to any preparation of opium; this modern sense was introduced by his followers (Sigerist 1941:540–1).
- Any of several tinctures of opium, once widely used for various medical purposes and as a recreational drug.
“Ever since my recovery from the fever I had been in the custom of taking every night a small quantity of laudanum; for it was by means of this drug only that I was enabled to gain the rest necessary for the preservation of life.”
“Whatever else was wanting to a wise man's happiness, —of laudanum I would have given him as much as he wished, and in a golden cup.”
verb
Etymology: From New Latin, from lādanum (“a gum resin”), from Ancient Greek λᾱ́δανον (lā́danon). Originally the same word as ladanum, labdanum, compare French laudanum, Italian laudano, ladano. Perhaps influenced by Latin laudō (“to praise”). See ladanum. Used by Paracelsus to refer to ladanum gum, and to a compound recipe containing pearls, but apparently not to any preparation of opium; this modern sense was introduced by his followers (Sigerist 1941:540–1).
- To add laudanum to (a drink or the like).
- To cause (a person) to be high on laudanum.