toxin

C2+ Topic:Science & Research

US /ˈtɑksɪn/ UK /ˈtɒksɪn/ See IPA manual

Homophones

tocsin /ˈtɑksɪn/

Meanings

1

noun
a poisonous substance produced by a living organism

The snake's venom contains a toxin that paralyzes its prey.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a poisonous substance... poison venom toxicant bane

Opposites

antitoxinantidote

Word family

Derived forms toxinic

Related forms toxic toxicanttoxicityintoxicate

Etymology

From toxic + -in; ultimately from Latin toxicum ('poison'), from Ancient Greek toxikon (pharmakon) ('poison for arrows'), from toxon ('bow, arrow').

toxicum Latin τοξικόν Ancient Greek τόξον Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Science & Research

External links

# toxin

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɑksɪn/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtɒksɪn/

## Meanings
1. a poisonous substance produced by a living organism

## Examples
- The snake's venom contains a toxin that paralyzes its prey.

## Synonyms
- poison
- venom
- toxicant
- bane

## Antonyms
- antitoxin
- antidote

## Derived Forms
- toxinic

## Related Forms
- toxic
- toxicant
- toxicity
- intoxicate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: toxicum
- Root: τοξικόν
- Root: τόξον

## Etymology
From toxic + -in; ultimately from Latin toxicum ('poison'), from Ancient Greek toxikon (pharmakon) ('poison for arrows'), from toxon ('bow, arrow').

## AI Etymology
Toxin is from toxic + -in; ultimately from Latin toxicum ('poison'), from Ancient Greek toxikon (pharmakon) ('poison for arrows'), from toxon ('bow, arrow'). Important recorded forms include toxicum (Latin), τοξικόν (Ancient Greek), and τόξον (Ancient Greek). Morphologically, the word preserves a built structure whose named elements carry the historical sense into English. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers a poisonous substance produced by a living organism. The wider family includes derived forms such as toxinic and related words such as toxic, toxicant, toxicity, and intoxicate.

## Topics
- Science & Research

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