soporific, a. and n.
(səʊpəˈrɪfɪk, sɒp-)
[f. L. type *sopōrific-us (f. sopor sleep: see -fic), = F. soporifique (1687), Sp., Pg., It. soporifico.]
A. adj.
1. Inducing or tending to induce sleep; causing a person to sleep or slumber. a. Of qualities, etc. (Cf. soporiferous a. 2 a.)
| 1690 Locke Hum. Underst. ii. xxiii. §8 The colour and taste of opium,..as well as its soporific or anodyne virtues. 1763 C. Johnston Reverie II. ii. i. 149 A phlegm,..which here seemed to have extended its soporifick influence over all present. 1765 Goldsm. New Simile 38 Its soporific virtue's such, Though ne'er so much awake before, That quickly they begin to snore. 1848 Dickens Dombey xi, Coaxed to sleep by the soporific agency of sweetbreads. 1879 M{supc}Carthy Own Times xxvii. II. 297 Most of those who tried to listen found the soporific influence irresistible. |
b. Of medicaments, drugs, etc. (Cf. soporiferous a. 2 b.)
| 1775 Adair Amer. Ind. 173 note, He acquiesced because of the soporific dose I gave him. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xv, He began to experience the incipient effects of his soporific draught. 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic i. 3 The influence of drugs and soporific embrocations on the human frame. 1883 Law Reports 11 Q.B.D. 588 Charged..with having unlawfully administered soporific drugs to the plaintiff's servants. |
c. Of books, writings, talk, etc., or of persons in respect of these.
| 1727 Somerville Fortune Hunter iv. Poems (1810) 222 Hibernian matrons thus of old, Their soporific stories told. 1760 Foote Minor i. i, The soporific twang of the tabernacle of Tottenham court road. 1822 Byron Juan viii. lxxxix, To quote Too much of one sort would be soporific. 1856 R. A. Vaughan Mystics (1860) I. 108 Dionysius in the East, then, is soporific. 1870 R. W. Dale Week-day Serm. viii. 155 Soporific talk begins to flow. |
d. In other contexts.
With quot. 1822–7 cf. soporal a. 1.
| 1822–7 Good Study Med. (1829) I. 546 Hence the name of carotids, or soporific vessels,..was given to the arteries, whose ligature was supposed to produce this very singular result. 1834 Southey Doctor i, I thought of all sleepy sounds, and all soporific things. 1856 R. A. Vaughan Mystics (1860) I. 69 She lifts the lid, and there steals out a soporific vapour. |
2. Of the nature of, characterized by, belonging to, sleep or sleepiness.
| 1754 Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 76, That soporific Awe, with which they behold Personages of this Cast. 1755 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) III. 136, I must own I see no blame in thinking an active age more agreeable to live in, than a soporific one. 1896 J. Lamb Ann. West Kilbride vi. 161 The soporific tendencies of..a portion of the congregation. |
3. Of persons: Drowsy, sleepy, somnolent; = soporiferous 3.
| 1841 C. Fox Old Friends (1882) 64 In vain did the soporific Transcendentalist demand the reason; he was to dress first and know after. |
B. n.
1. A substance, esp. a medicament, which induces sleep.
| 1722–7 Boyer Dict. Royal i, Un soporatif, a soporifick. a 1746 Holdsworth Rem. Virgil (1768) 47 A strong medicine; and, in particular, a strong soporific. 1752 Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) II. 63 Nor has rhubarb always proved a purge, or opium a soporific. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 259 Soporifics (Anodynes; Narcotics). 1896 Allbutt's Syst. Med. I. 242 The use of soporifics is limited by the extent of their other pharmacological effects. |
| transf. and fig. 1811 L. M. Hawkins C'tess & Gertr. I. Introd., That soporific of houshold care, called ‘board-wages’. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Imperf. Sympathies, The question operated as a soporific on my moral feeling. |
2. A sleepy or somnolent person. rare.
| 1808 W. Wilson Hist. Diss. Ch. II. 92 This zealous writer forgot that every charge which he brought against Mr. Pike and his five soporifics, falls with additional weight on himself. |
Hence sopoˈrifical a., sopoˈrifically adv.
| 1807–8 W. Irving Salmag. (1824) 138 Another gentleman..proses away most soporifically. 1837 New Monthly Mag. LI. 365 We are becoming anatomical and soporifical. |