In article ,
David Rance wrote:
On Sat, 21 Nov 2020 03:08:27 The Natural Philosopher wrote:

As he used the word metaphorically then it is more correctly translated
as "opiate of the people (or masses)" (according to my Langenscheidt
dictionary [Opium fürs Volk - opiate for the people]).

Actually, no, according to the OED. Interestingly, the word opiate is
much older, but primarily referred to a medicine; in the sense of a
stupefying agent, the word is opium, and dates from 1608.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.