a drug made from opium. In the past, people used to take laudanum to reduce pain and worry, and to help them sleep. 阿片酊(旧时用以镇痛、镇静及安眠) Word Originmid 16th cent. (applied to various preparations containing opium): modern Latin, the name given by Paracelsus to a costly medicament of which opium was believed to be the active ingredient; perhaps a variant of Latin ladanum from Greek ladanon, lēdanon, from lēdon ‘mastic’.