laudanum

[ lawd-n-uhm, lawd-nuhm ]

noun

1. a tincture of opium.
2. Obsolete. any preparation in which opium is the chief ingredient.

laudanum

/ ˈlɔːdənəm /

noun

1. a tincture of opium
2. (formerly) any medicine of which opium was the main ingredient

Word History and Origins

Origin of laudanum¹

1595–1605; originally Medieval Latin variant of ladanum; arbitrarily used by Paracelsus to name a remedy based on opium

Word History and Origins

Origin of laudanum¹

C16: New Latin, name chosen by Paracelsus for a preparation probably containing opium, perhaps based on labdanum

Example Sentences

To ease his pain, he may have used laudanum, an opium drug.

From Literature

Mary Todd Lincoln presumably left laudanum all over the place.

From Slate

Meanwhile, dissolving opium in alcohol to make laudanum, the method of ingestion preferred by Victorian ladies, was still permitted.

From Seattle Times

She notices her husband’s laudanum addiction.

From Los Angeles Times

He had been an anesthetic, a way to numb the pain of my father’s death as well as any laudanum.

From Literature

Related Words

• anesthetic
• dope
• hard drug
• heroin
• merchandise
• opiate
• opium
• painkiller
• sedative
• tranquilizer