opium poppyn.
/ˈəʊpɪəm ˌpɒpi/, U.S. /ˈoʊpiəm ˌpɑpi/ An erect, glaucous Eurasian poppy, Papaver somniferum, native to south-west Asia and cultivated, chiefly in a white- or lilac-flowered form, as the source of opium and also, in various colours, as an ornamental garden flower.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > yielding drug or narcotic > [noun] > opium poppy
white poppyOE
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opium poppy1849
1849 J. H. Balfour Man. Bot. § 756 The seeds of the Opium Poppy yield a bland, wholesome oil.
1863 J. T. B. Syme Sowerby's Eng. Bot. (ed. 3) I. 84 Papaver somniferum Sleepbearing Poppy, Garden Poppy, White Poppy, Opium Poppy.
1880 R. Bentley & H. Trimen Medicinal Plants I. 18 It cannot be said that the opium poppy is known anywhere in a thoroughly wild condition.
1900 W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden (ed. 8) 701/1 P[apaver] somniferum (Opium Poppy).—This beautiful and variably-coloured poppy is a valuable hardy annual.
1921 A. Huxley Crome Yellow xxii. 247 They passed a bed of opium poppies, dispetaled now.
1970 R. Gorer Devel. Garden Flowers xiv. 223 Both the Iceland Poppy..and the Opium Poppy..had long been known for their various colour forms and, in the case of the Opium Poppy, doubleness was an early phenomenon.
2000 Independent 8 July (Weekend Review section) 12/1 Opportunistic pink opium poppies pushed through the jumble and have been serenely flowering in the chaos.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1849