poison

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpɔɪ.zən/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English poisoun, borrowed from Old French poison (“a drink, potion, poisonous drink”),^[2][3][4] from Latin pōtiō (“a drinking, a drink; a poisonous drink”),^[2][3] from pōtāre, to drink,^[2][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *po(i)- (“to drink”).^[2] It is a doublet of potion.^[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A deadly substance or potion: probably about 1200 in Barnhart and Etymonline,^[3][2] about 1230 in the OED.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that in early use it meant a drink or medicine, specifically a potion with a dangerous ingredient.^[6] It was also figurative early, of spiritually corrupting ideas.^[2] A medicinal draught (1377) is an obsolete sense.^[7] Any substance that destroys life or injures health is from 1387.^[7][4] The verb, to kill with poison, is from about 1300 (before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder),^[2][3] and to corrupt from the late 14th century.^[2] Alcoholic drink, name your poison, is colloquial and originally American from 1805.^[7] In chemistry, a substance that inhibits a catalyst is from 1913, and in nuclear science one that absorbs neutrons in a reactor from 1952.^[7][8] The Old English words were ator and lybb.^[2] One man's meat is another man's poison was called an old moth-eaten proverb as early as 1604.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – a deadly potion.^[3]
• c. 1300 – the verb.^[2]
• 1387 – any toxic substance.^[7]
• 1805 – alcoholic drink (slang).^[7]
• 1913 – in chemistry.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A substance that causes illness, injury or death, especially by chemical action.
2. Something that destroys or corrupts: the poison of fascism.
3. A substance that slows a chemical reaction or a nuclear chain reaction.

Verb

1. To kill or harm with poison, or to put poison in.
2. To pollute.
3. To have a harmful influence on; to corrupt.

Adjective

1. Poisonous: poison ivy.

Word family

• poisoner
• poisonless
• poisonlessness
• outpoison
• lead poisoning

Related words

• poisonous
• potion
• potable
• symposium
• venom

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins