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laudanum, originally, the name given by Paracelsus to a famous medical preparation of his own, composed of gold, pearls, and other items but containing opium as its chief ingredient. The name either was invented by Paracelsus from the Latin laudare (“to praise”) or was a corrupted form of ladanum (from the Persian ladan), a resinous juice or gum obtained from various kinds of the Cistus shrub. The term is now used only to describe the alcoholic tincture of opium, a 10 percent solution of opium powder dissolved in high-proof distilled spirits.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray.