noun
laudanum
LAW-duh-nuhm
noun
1
A tincture of opium once widely used as a painkiller, sedative, and recreational drug.
"Victorian doctors routinely prescribed laudanum for everything from toothache to insomnia."
"The novel's heroine becomes quietly addicted to laudanum after years of chronic pain."
How to Use Laudanum
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn old-fashioned opium-based medicine, mostly known today from period novels and history books.
Common mistake
It is not a modern medicine — laudanum was banned or tightly restricted in most countries by the early 20th century.
Word Forms
laudanumed past tense, laudanums plural, laudanums singular
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Etymology
From New Latin laudanum, ultimately from the Greek word for a fragrant resin; the spelling may also have been shaped by Latin laudo, "I praise."