Dictionary

opioid en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈəʊpiɔɪd/ (UK)

Etymology

Attested 1963; from opium + -oid, to distinguish from opiate.

Meanings

1. A substance that has effects similar to opium: ▸ Any of the natural substances, such as an endorphin, released in the body in response to pain; an endogenous opioid.
   • Mechoulam concluded that our bodies must produce their own cannabinoids — endogenous molecules that, like the native opioids and nicotinelike molecules our bodies also make, engage the cannabinoid receptors throughout the human body. 2019 May 14, Moises Velasquez-Manoff, “Can CBD Really Do All That?”, in The New York Times Magazine:
2. A substance that has effects similar to opium: ▸ Any of a group of synthetic compounds that exhibit similarities to the opium alkaloids that occur in nature.
   • The number of young children in the US who have died from opioid overdoses has increased significantly, according to a new study on accidental poisonings of children 5 and younger. 2023 March 8, Jen Christensen, “Young children are increasingly victims of opioid epidemic, study finds”, in CNN:

Forms

Deriveds

opioidergic · opioidlike · copioid · nonopioid

Translations (8)

cmn 鴉片劑 /鸦片剂 (substance that has effects similar to opium) · pl opioid (substance that has effects similar to opium) · de Opioid (substance that has effects similar to opium) · es opioide (substance that has effects similar to opium) · id opioid (substance that has effects similar to opium) · fi opioidi (substance that has effects similar to opium) · sw opioidi (substance that has effects similar to opium) · mi whakaporehu (substance that has effects similar to opium)