Etymologically
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poisonous

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈpɔɪzənəs/, /ˈpɔɪznəs/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English poison + -ous.[2][3][4][5] Poison is from Old French poison (“a drink”), from Latin pōtiō (“a drinking”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Containing poison or having its properties; venomous: 1425, in the poem When Crist was Risen.[2] Other dictionaries date the word later: the 1570s in Etymonline,[4] the mid-16th century in the Shorter Oxford,[3] and 1565–75 in Dictionary.com.[5]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, morally corrupting or malicious, followed in 1555.[2][3] Etymonline lists rivals that did not last: poisonful (1550s), poisonsome and poisony (1590s); earlier, poisoned was used in this sense, from the late 15th century.[4] Johnson (1755) defined it as venomous, quoting Shakespeare's Coriolanus.[6] Since 1906 it has been used colloquially for something merely unpleasant or nasty.[2][3]

Timeline

  • 1425 – containing poison, venomous.[2]
  • 1555 – morally destructive or corrupting, malicious.[2]
  • 1570s – first date in Etymonline.[4]
  • 1906 – colloquial, unpleasant, nasty.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Containing poison or having its effects; toxic: Some of the mushrooms in these woods are poisonous.[7][8][2]
  2. Able to kill or injure with poison; venomous: a poisonous spider.[7][8]
  3. Morally harmful or malicious: a poisonous rumour.[7][2][3]
  4. (colloquial) Very unpleasant; nasty.[2][3]

Word family

  • poisonously
  • poisonousness
  • nonpoisonous
  • unpoisonous

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster