narcotic
Any substance or drug that reduces pain, induces sleep and may alter mood or behaviour; in some contexts, especially in reference to the opiates-and-opioids class, especially in reference to illegal drugs, and often both.
Other meanings
Any type of numbing or soothing drug.
Word history
From Ancient Greek "ναρκόω" (to benumb).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “narcotic” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.