opioid

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

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈəʊpiɔɪd/

• Audio (Southern England):

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opioid (plural opioids)

1. A substance that has effects similar to opium:
   1. (physiology) Any of the natural substances, such as an endorphin, released in the body in response to pain; an endogenous opioid.
      • 2019 May 14, Moises Velasquez-Manoff, “Can CBD Really Do All That?”, in The New York Times Magazine‎^[1]:

        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.

   2. (pharmacology) Any of a group of synthetic compounds that exhibit similarities to the opium alkaloids that occur in nature.

      Hyponym: opiate

      • 2023 March 8, Jen Christensen, “Young children are increasingly victims of opioid epidemic, study finds”, in CNN‎^[2]:

        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.