What does "opiate" mean?

Opiate: Any medicine that contains opium, and has the quality of inducing sleep or repose; a narcotic.

Additional senses

  1. 2.Anything which induces rest or inaction; that which quiets uneasiness. They chose atheism as an opiate. Bentley.
  2. 3.Inducing sleep; somniferous; narcotic; hence, anodyne; causing rest, dullness, or inaction; as, the opiate rod of Hermes. Milton.
  3. 4.To subject to the influence of an opiate; to put to sleep. [R.] Fenton.

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