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opiate

Diction
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Causing sleep or drowsiness, like an opium-like drug. In older literary use, it can also suggest a narcotic, dreamy effect.

Detailed Definition
Poe uses "opiate" to create a heavy, drugged atmosphere around the moonlit scene. The word is not just descriptive of medicine here; it helps make the whole landscape seem lulled into an unnatural sleep. Modern readers may know the adjective, but it is still a distinctly literary choice in this poem.
Example
Example in poetry:
“An opiate vapor, dewy, dim” makes mist seem sleep-inducing; Keats’s “opiate and dull the sense” links the word with enchanted numbness; “The opiate hush of snowfall covered the avenue” uses it metaphorically, not medically; In poems, opiate often suggests sedation, oblivion, or dangerous relief.
Additional Notes
"opiate" in "An opiate vapor" is a specialized literary adjective that many readers may not immediately know in this older, sleep-inducing sense.; Found in the poem, The Sleeper by Edgar Allan Poe
Also Known As
sedative narcotic tranquilizer euphoric
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