toxicum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈtɔk.sɪ.kũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈtɔk.si.kum]^[1]

Forms

toxicum n (genitive toxicī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek τοξικόν (toxikón, “poison for arrows”), short for a Greek phrase meaning “drug for arrows”, from τοξικός (toxikós, “of the bow”), from τόξον (tóxon, “bow”).^[2][1][3] It is also written in the Greek form ⟨toxicon⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's and Gaffiot's earliest citations are from Plautus' Mercator, of a poison.^[4] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a poison, first one in which arrows were dipped, as Caecilius and Afranius quoted by Festus, Ovid and Pliny, and then any poison, as in Plautus, Horace and Suetonius.^[2][5][4] Döderlein explains that toxicum is poison as a term of natural history, venēnum an artificial poison, often sweet and tempting, and vīrus a noxious, distasteful juice.^[6]

British Medieval Latin used it of poison, venom, also figuratively.^[7] It survives in Italian tossico and Romanian toapsec.^[1] Late Latin toxicus “poisoned” gave English toxic in the 1660s.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of poison.^[4][3]
• 65–8 BC – Horace uses it.^[4][3]
• 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of arrow poison.^[5][3]
• 1660s – English toxic is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A poison for arrows.^[5][2]
2. Any poison.^[2][4]

Related words

• toxicō
• toxicus
• venēnum
• vīrus
• English toxic

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com