Nar*cot"ic (?), a. [F. narcotique, Gr. , fr. to benumb, na`rkh numbness, torpor.] Med.
Having the properties of a narcotic; operating as a narcotic.
-- Nar*cot"ic*ness, n.
© Webster 1913.
Nar*cot"ic (?), n. Med.
A drug which, in medicinal doses, generally allays morbid susceptibility, relieves pain, and produces sleep; but which, in poisonous doses, produces stupor, coma, or convulsions, and, when given in sufficient quantity, causes death. The best examples are opium (with morphine), belladonna (with atropine), and conium.
Nercotykes and opye (opium) of Thebes.
Chaucer.
© Webster 1913.