From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishlaudanumlau‧da‧num /ˈlɔːdənəm $ ˈlɒː-/ noun [uncountable] MHa substance containing the drug opium, used in the past to control pain and help people to sleep
Examples from the Corpus
laudanum• Poisoning by laudanum, or other opium derivatives, is a comparatively gradual process.• He began to drink laudanum as well.• He had mixed laudanum with his wine, but even that had not helped.• Coleridge wrote Kubla Khan after hearing it in a sleep stimulated by the opiate laudanum.• He put laudanum in his brandy which helped.• And so Branwell spent more and more time drinking, and taking laudanum, and walking alone on the moors.• The laudanum bottle was brought out.• It was as though her old mistress were drunk, or light-headed with laudanum, so intense was her delight.Origin laudanum (1500-1600) Modern Latin probably from Medieval Latin lapdanum “juice obtained from a type of plant” 