poison
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English poisoun, poyson, poysone, puyson, puisun, from Old French poison, poison, from Latin pōtio, pōtiōnis (“drink, a draught, a poisonous draught, a potion”), from pōtō (“I drink”). See also potion and potable.
Displaced native Old English ātor.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
poison (countable and uncountable, plural poisons)
- A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested.
- We used a poison to kill the weeds.
- (figurative) Anything harmful to a person or thing.
- Gossip is a malicious poison.
- 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act IV:
- Awaie with the Rebels ſuffer them not to ſpeake,
His words are poyſon in the eares of the people, […]
- (informal) An intoxicating drink; a liquor. (note: this sense is chiefly encountered in the phrases "name your poison" and "what's your poison ?")
- — What's your poison?
- — I'll have a glass of whisky.
- (chemistry) Any substance that inhibits catalytic activity.
- 2013, Huazhang Liu, Ammonia Synthesis Catalysts: Innovation and Practice, page 693:
- The temperature effect of poisons. The influence of poison on the catalyst can be different with the change of reaction conditions.
Usage notes[edit]
- Not to be confused with venom
Synonyms[edit]
- (substance that is harmful): atter, bane, contaminant, pollutant, toxin
Derived terms[edit]
- berry poison
- box poison
- bullock poison
- Champion Bay poison
- Circean poison
- cluster poison
- crinkle-leaved poison
- Durban poison
- eastern poison ivy
- Gilbernine poison
- granite poison
- heart-leaved poison
- Hill River poison
- Hook Point poison
- horned poison
- Hottentot's poison bush
- Hutt River poison
- kite-leaved poison
- mallet poison
- Mount Ragged poison
- Myers' poison frog
- name one's poison
- narrow-leaved poison
- net-leaved poison
- one man's fish is another man's poison
- one man's meat is another man's poison
- Phillips River poison
- poison arrow
- poison arrow frog
- poison ash
- poison at the box office
- poison dart frog
- poisoner
- poison gas
- poison gland
- poison hemlock
- poisoning
- poison-ivy
- poison ivy
- poison message
- poison nut
- poison oak
- poisonous
- poison pen
- poison pen letter
- poison-pen letter
- poison pill
- poison queue
- poison sumac
- poisonwood
- prickly poison
- rat poison
- rigid-leaf poison
- river poison
- rock poison
- Roe's poison
- runner poison
- sandplain poison
- slender poison
- spike poison
- spindle poison
- spit-poison
- Stirling Range poison
- taste of one's own poison
- the dose makes the poison
- thick-leaved poison
- wallflower poison
- western poison ivy
- western poison oak
- what's yer poison
- what's your poison
- white gum poison
- wodjil poison
- woolly poison
- York Road poison
Translations[edit]
substance harmful to a living organism
|
something that harms
Verb[edit]
poison (third-person singular simple present poisons, present participle poisoning, simple past and past participle poisoned)
- (transitive) To use poison to kill or paralyse (somebody).
- The assassin poisoned the king.
- (transitive) To pollute; to cause to become poisonous.
- That factory is poisoning the river.
- (transitive) To cause to become much worse.
- Suspicion will poison their relationship.
- He poisoned the mood in the room with his non-stop criticism.
- (transitive) To cause (someone) to hate or to have unfair negative opinions.
- She's poisoned him against all his old friends.
- (chemistry) To inhibit the catalytic activity of.
- (transitive, computing) To place false information into (a cache) as part of an exploit.
- 2013, Ronald L. Mendell, Investigating Information-based Crimes, page 93:
- In this technique, the hacker poisons the cache to launch malware into Web pages.
Usage notes[edit]
- Not to be confused with envenomate
Synonyms[edit]
- (to pollute): contaminate, pollute, taint
- (to cause to become worse): corrupt, taint
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
to use poison to kill or paralyse
|
pollute
|
make worse
|
References[edit]
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “poison”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- “poison”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French poison, inherited from Latin pōtiōnem. Doublet of potion, a borrowing.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
poison m (plural poisons)
- poison
- Poisson sans boisson est poison. ― Fish without drink is poison.
Derived terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “poison”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle English[edit]
Noun[edit]
poison
- Alternative form of poisoun
Old French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin pōtiōnem, accusative singular of pōtio.
Noun[edit]
poison f (oblique plural poisons, nominative singular poison, nominative plural poisons)
- poison
- c. 1176, Chrétien de Troyes, Cligès:
- Thessala tranpre sa poison
- Thessala mixed her poison
- potion
Descendants[edit]
Spanish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from French poison. Doublet of poción.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
poison m (plural póisones)
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *peh₃-
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɔɪzən
- Rhymes:English/ɔɪzən/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English informal terms
- en:Chemistry
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Computing
- en:Poisons
- en:Toxicology
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms inherited from Old French
- French terms inherited from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French doublets
- French 2-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French terms with usage examples
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English lemmas
- Old French terms inherited from Latin
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French lemmas
- Old French nouns
- Old French feminine nouns
- Old French terms with quotations
- Spanish terms derived from French
- Spanish terms borrowed from French
- Spanish doublets
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/oison
- Rhymes:Spanish/oison/2 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish masculine nouns
- Louisiana Spanish