What Does Opium Mean?

Opium is a noun referring to a bitter, highly addictive narcotic drug that is yellowish-brown in colour, made from the dried juice of immature pods of the opium poppy. It contains alkaloids such as codeine, morphine and papaverine. Opium may be used to describe something that stupefies or numbs. The term may be used in the general sense to signify something that has an effect similar to that of opium.
As a drug, it is a narcotic analgesic drug that is harvested. Opium is also popularly processed into heroin. It is important to note that most of the current drug use is related to processed derivatives and not with raw opium.
The term is Middle English; from the Greek term opion, which is diminutive of opos, meaning vegetable juice or sap.