τοξικός

Forms

τοξῐκός (toxikós) m (feminine τοξῐκή, neuter τοξῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek τόξον (tóxon, “bow”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[1][2] Beekes thinks the noun is of Pre-Greek origin: since the Scythians and other Iranians were famous archers, a loan from Iranian has been suspected, but the Mycenaean records of the word rule this out.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first text with it is Aeschylus' Persians, which uses it of the bowstring: “of the bow”.^[4][5][6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it describes anything to do with the bow: Plato speaks of an archer's equipment, and the feminine, with “art” understood, is archery in Plato and Xenophon.^[4][5] Xenophon calls people skilled archers with it, and in Aristophanes the neuter is the body of archers.^[4][5] The neuter also meant a loophole for shooting through, in the Septuagint's Judges.^[4][7]

A work in the Aristotelian corpus uses the phrase τοξικὸν φάρμακον, the poison smeared on arrows, while from Strabo and Dioscorides on τὸ τοξικόν alone is that poison.^[4] According to Babiniotis, this phrase was the starting point of the sense “poisonous”, which Dioscorides is the first to use of the adjective.^[2] Latin took it as toxicum (“poison”), and English toxic (1660s) comes from French toxique and Late Latin toxicus.^[8] Modern Greek τοξικός (toxikós) “poisonous” is a learned word modelled on French toxique.^[9]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it of a bowstring.^[4][5][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes uses the neuter for a body of archers, and Plato the feminine for archery.^[4][5][10]
• 4th century BC – A work in the Aristotelian corpus names the arrow poison τοξικὸν φάρμακον.^[4][2][10]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides uses it of poison.^[2][4][10]
• 1660s – English toxic is borrowed from French and Late Latin.^[8]
• Modern Greek – The learned τοξικός (toxikós) means “poisonous”.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or for the bow.^[4][5]
2. Of people, skilled with the bow.^[4][5]

Noun

1. (feminine, τέχνη (tékhnē) understood) Archery.^[4][5]
2. (neuter, collective) The archers, a body of bowmen.^[4][5]
3. (neuter) A loophole for shooting through.^[4][7]
4. (neuter, also with φάρμακον (phármakon)) The poison smeared on arrows.^[4]

Related words

• τοξοσύνη (toxosúnē)
• τόξον (tóxon)
• τοξότης (toxótēs)
• Latin toxicum
• English toxic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
3. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge