opye

Middle English

Alternative forms

• opie

Noun

opye

1. opium
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Knight's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 1470-1475:

     For he had yive his gayler drinke so
     Of a clarree, maad of a certeyn wyn,
     With nercotikes and opie of Thebes fyn,
     That al that night, thogh that men wolde him shake,
     The gayler sleep, he mighte nat awake;
     And thus he fleeth as faste as ever he may.

     For he had so given his jailer drink
     Of a spiced and sweetened drink made of a certain wine,
     With narcotics and pure opium of Thebes,
     That all that night, though men would shake him,
     The jailer slept, he could not awake;
     And thus he flees as fast as ever he can.