poison

See also: poisson and Poisson

English

Etymology

From Middle English poisoun, poyson, poysone, puyson, puisun, from Old French puison, poison, from Latin pōtio, pōtiōnis (“drink, a draught, a poisonous draught, a potion”), from pōtō (“I drink”). Displaced native Old English ator. See also potion and potable.

Pronunciation

• enPR: poi'zən, IPA^(key): /ˈpɔɪz(ə)n/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -ɔɪzən
• Hyphenation: poi‧son

Noun

poison (countable and uncountable, plural poisons)

1. A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism.

   We used a poison to kill the weeds.

2. Something that harms a person or thing.

   Gossip is a malicious poison.

3. (informal) A drink; liquor.

   — What's your poison?

   — I'll have a glass of whisky.

Synonyms

• (substance that is harmful): atter, bane, contaminant, pollutant, toxin, venom

Derived terms

• poisoner
• poison gas
• poison hemlock
• poisoning
• poison ivy
• poison oak
• poisonous
• poison-pen letter
• poison pill
• poison sumac
• poisonwood
• rat poison
• what's your poison

 

Translations

substance harmful to a living organism

• Abkhaz: ашҳам (aŝḥam)
• Adyghe: щынаут (śənawut)
• Afrikaans: gif
• Ainu: スㇽク (surku)
• Albanian: helm (sq) m
• Amharic: መርዝ (märz)
• Arabic: سُمّ m (summ)

  Moroccan Arabic: سم (samm)

• Armenian: թույն (hy) (tʻuyn)

  Old Armenian: թոյն (tʻoyn), ժահր (žahr)

• Aromanian: virin (roa-rup)
• Ashkun: ios
• Assamese: বিহ (bih)
• Asturian: venenu m
• Azerbaijani: zəhər (az), ağı
• Bashkir: ағыу (ağıw)
• Basque: pozoi
• Belarusian: яд m (jad), атру́та f (atrúta)
• Bengali: বিষ (biś)
• Breton: ampoezon (br) m
• Bulgarian: отро́ва (bg) f (otróva)
• Burmese: အဆိပ် (my) (a.hcip)
• Catalan: verí (ca) m, metzina (ca) f
• Chechen: дӏовш (dˀovš)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 毒 (zh) (dú), 毒物 (zh) (dúwù), 毒藥／毒药 (zh) (dúyào), 毒药 (zh) (dúyào)

• Chuvash: please add this translation if you can
• Classical Nahuatl: tlapahhuilōni
• Cornish: venym, poyson, gwenyn m
• Corsican: please add this translation if you can
• Czech: jed (cs) m
• Danish: gift (da)
• Dhivehi: ވިހަ (viha)
• Dutch: gif (nl) n, vergif (nl) n, vergift (nl) n
• Eastern Mari: ,
• Elfdalian: djipt n
• Erzya: яд (jad)
• Esperanto: veneno (eo)
• Estonian: mürk (et)
• Faroese: gift f, eitur n
• Finnish: myrkky (fi)
• French: poison (fr) m
• Friulian: velen m, tuessin
• Gagauz: zihir
• Galician: veleno m, pezoña f, pezoia f
• Georgian: შხამი (šxami), საწამლავი (sac̣amlavi)
• German: Gift (de) n, Giftstoff (de) m
• Greek: δηλητήριο (el) n (dilitírio), (colloquial) φαρμάκι (el) n (farmáki)

  Ancient: ἰός m (iós)

• Greenlandic: toqunartoq
• Gujarati: ઝેર (jher)
• Hebrew: רַעַל (he) m (ra'àl), סַם (he) m (sam)
• Hindi: बिस (hi) m (bis), विष (hi) m (viṣ), ज़हर m (zahar), हलाहल (hi) (halāhal)
• Hungarian: méreg (hu)
• Icelandic: eitur (is) n
• Ido: toxiko (io), veneno (io)
• Indonesian: racun (id), bisa (id) (of snake)
• Ingrian: mürkkü
• Interlingua: veneno, toxico
• Irish: nimh (ga) f
• Istriot: vanen m
• Italian: veleno (it) m
• Japanese: 毒 (ja) (どく, doku)
• Kamkata-viri: viš
• Kannada: ನಂಜು (kn) (nañju)
• Kashubian: please add this translation if you can
• Kazakh: у (kk) (u), зәр (zär)
• Khmer: ថ្នាំពុល (thnam pul)
• Komi-Permyak: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 독 (ko) (dok)
• Kunigami: 酔 (うい, ui), 毒 (どぅく, duku)
• Kurdish: , , ,
• Kyrgyz: уу (ky) (uu)
• Lao: ຢາພິດ (lo) (yā phit)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: venēnum (la) n, toxicum n
• Latvian: inde f
• Lithuanian: nuodai n
• Luxembourgish: Gëft
• Macedonian: отров m (otrov)
• Malagasy: poizina (mg)
• Malay: racun
• Maltese: velenu, semm m
• Manx: pyshoon m, nieu f
• Maori: huarua, paitini
• Miyako: 酔 (びゔ, biv), 毒 (どぅく, duku)
• Mongolian: хор (mn) (xor)
• Northern Sami: mirko
• Norwegian: gift (no) m or f
• Occitan: poison (oc)
• Okinawan: 毒 (どぅく, duku)
• Old English: ātor n
• Ossetian: марг (marg)
• Persian: زهر (fa) (zahr)
• Polish: trucizna (pl) f, jad (pl) m inan
• Portuguese: veneno (pt) m, peçonha (pt) f, tóxico (pt) m
• Prasuni: ūšu
• Quechua: miyu
• Romanian: otravă (ro) f, venin (ro) n
• Romansch: tissi m, teissa m, tössi m
• Russian: яд (ru) m (jad), отра́ва (ru) f (otráva)
• Saanich: T̸EXTEN
• Sanskrit: विष (sa) n (viṣá)
• Scots: pushion
• Scottish Gaelic: nimh m, puinnsean m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: о̀тров m

  Roman: òtrov (sh) m

• Shor: оо (oo)
• Sicilian: vilenu m
• Sinhalese: වස (wasa), විෂ (si) (wiṣa), විස (wisa), වහ (waha)
• Slovak: jed m
• Slovene: strup (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: gad m

  Upper Sorbian: jěd

• Southern Altai: корон (koron)
• Spanish: veneno (es) m, ponzoña (es) f
• Swahili: sumu (sw) (noun 9/10)
• Swedish: gift (sv) n
• Tajik: заҳр (zahr)
• Taos: benę̀nu’úne
• Tatar: агу (tt) (ağu)
• Telugu: విషము (te) (viṣamu)
• Thai: พิษ (th) (pít), ยาพิษ (th) (yaa-pít)
• Tibetan: དུག (dug)
• Tocharian A: wäs
• Tocharian B: wase
• Turkish: zehir (tr), ağı (tr), düğü (tr)
• Turkmen: zäher (tk)
• Tuvan: please add this translation if you can
• Udmurt: яд (jad)
• Ukrainian: отру́та f (otrúta), яд m (jad)
• Urdu: زہر m (zahr), ہلاہل (halāhal)
• Uyghur: زەھەر (zeher)
• Uzbek: ogʻu (uz), zahar (uz)
• Vietnamese: chất độc (vi), thuốc độc (vi)
• Volapük: venen (vo)
• Votic: mürttšu
• Waigali: viš
• Walloon: pwezon (wa)
• Welsh: gwenwyn (cy) m
• West Frisian: fergif n
• Yaeyama: 酔 (びゅーりぃ, byūrï), 毒 (どぅく, duku)
• Yakut: please add this translation if you can
• Yiddish: סם (sam), גיפֿט m (gift)
• Zulu: isihlungu class 7/8, ubuthi class 14
• ǃXóõ: ǁāã, sòo

something that harms

• Catalan: verí (ca) m, metzina (ca) f
• Czech: jed (cs) m
• Greek: δηλητήριο (el) n (dilitírio)
• Norwegian: gift (no)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Sanskrit: विष (sa) n (viṣá)
• Scottish Gaelic: nimh m
• Turkish: zıkkım (tr)

liquor

• Greek: ποτό (el) n (potó)
• Slovak: jed m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Turkish: zıkkım (tr)

Verb

poison (third-person singular simple present poisons, present participle poisoning, simple past and past participle poisoned)

1. (transitive) To use poison to kill or paralyse somebody

   The assassin poisoned the king.

2. (transitive) To pollute; to cause some part of the environment to become poisonous

   That factory is poisoning the river.

3. (transitive) To cause something to become much worse

   Suspicion will poison their relationship.

   He poisoned the mood in the room with his non-stop criticism.

4. (transitive) To cause someone to hate or to have unfair negative opinions

   She's poisoned him against all his old friends.

Synonyms

• (to pollute): contaminate, pollute, taint
• (to cause to become worse): corrupt, taint

Derived terms

• lead poisoning
• poisoned chalice
• radiation poisoning

 

Translations

to use poison to kill or paralyse

• Arabic: سَمَّمَ (sammama), سَمَّ (samma)
• Armenian: թունավորել (hy) (tʻunavorel)
• Aromanian: nvirinedz, virinedz, nfarmãc, ncioamir
• Belarusian: атру́чваць impf (atrúčvacʹ), атру́ціць pf (atrúcicʹ)
• Breton: ampoezoniñ (br)
• Bulgarian: тровя (bg) impf (trovja), отравям (bg) pf (otravjam)
• Catalan: emmetzinar (ca), enverinar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 毒害 (zh) (dúhài), 毒死 (zh) (dúsǐ) (kill with poison), 毒殺／毒杀 (zh) (dúshā), 毒杀 (zh) (dúshā)

• Classical Nahuatl: pahmictiā
• Cornish: posnya, venyma, gwenyna
• Czech: otrávit (cs) pf, trávit (cs) impf
• Danish: forgifte
• Dutch: vergiftigen (nl)
• Estonian: mürgitama
• Faroese: eitra
• Finnish: myrkyttää (fi)
• French: empoisonner (fr)
• Friulian: velenâ, intosseâ
• Georgian: წამლავს (c̣amlavs)
• German: vergiften (de)
• Greek: δηλητηριάζω (el) (dilitiriázo), φαρμακώνω (el) (farmakóno) (colloquial)
• Hungarian: megmérgez (hu)
• Icelandic: eitra (is)
• Ido: venenagar (io)
• Indonesian: meracuni (id)
• Interlingua: invenenar, intoxicar
• Irish: nimhigh
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: avvelenare (it), intossicare (it)
• Japanese: 毒殺する (ja) (どくさつする, dokusatsu suru), 毒害する (ja) (どくがいする, dokugai suru)
• Korean: 독살하다 (ko) (doksalhada)
• Kurdish: ,
• Latin: venēnō (la)
• Latvian: noindēt impf
• Lithuanian: nuodyti impf
• Maori: paitini
• Mongolian: хордуулах (xorduulax)
• Occitan: verenar, verinejar
• Polish: truć (pl) impf, zatruwać (pl), otruć pf
• Portuguese: envenenar (pt), empeçonhar, intoxicar (pt)
• Quechua: miyuy
• Romanian: otrăvi (ro), învenina (ro), intoxica (ro)
• Russian: отравля́ть (ru) impf (otravljátʹ), трави́ть (ru) impf (travítʹ), отрави́ть (ru) pf (otravítʹ)
• Scots: pushion
• Sicilian: avvilinari (scn), abbilinari (scn)
• Slovak: otráviť pf
• Spanish: envenenar (es), emponzoñar (es)
• Swedish: förgifta (sv)
• Thai: วางยา (th), เบื่อ (th) (bʉ̀ʉa)
• Turkish: zehirlemek (tr), ağılamak (tr)
• Ukrainian: отру́ювати impf (otrújuvaty), тру́їти impf (trújity), отру́їти pf (otrújity)
• Venetian: invełenar, inverinar, intosegar, tosegar
• Volapük: venenön (vo)
• Yiddish: פֿאַרסמען (farsamen), פֿאַרגיפֿטן (fargiftn), סמען (samen)

pollute

• Catalan: emmetzinar (ca), enverinar (ca)
• Czech: otrávit (cs)
• Faroese: dálka
• Greek: μολύνω (el) (molýno)
• Latvian: saindēt
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: whakaparu
• Russian: отравля́ть (ru) impf (otravljátʹ), трави́ть (ru) impf (travítʹ), отрави́ть (ru) pf (otravítʹ)
• Scots: pushion
• Slovak: otráviť

make worse

• Catalan: emmetzinar (ca), enverinar (ca)
• Czech: otrávit (cs)
• Greek: δηλητηριάζω (el) (dilitiriázo)
• Latvian: samaitāt
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: отравля́ть (ru) impf (otravljátʹ), отрави́ть (ru) pf (otravítʹ)
• Scots: pushion
• Slovak: otráviť
• Turkish: zehirlemek (tr)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “poison”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “poison”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

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French

Etymology

From Old French, inherited from Latin pōtio, pōtiōnis. Doublet of potion, a borrowing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pwa.zɔ̃/

• audio:

  (file)

Noun

poison m (plural poisons)

1. poison

   Poisson sans boisson est poison — Fish gotta swim.

Derived terms

• empoisonner
  • empoisonnement
• poisonneux

Further reading

• “poison”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Middle English

Noun

poison

1. Alternative form of poisoun

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Old French

Etymology

From Latin pōtio, pōtiōnis.

Noun

poison oblique singular, f (oblique plural poisons, nominative singular poison, nominative plural poisons)

1. poison
   • circa 1176, Chrétien de Troyes, Cligès:

     Thessala tranpre sa poison

     Thessala mixed her poison

2. potion

Descendants

• → Middle English: poisoun
  • English: poison
• French: poison

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Spanish

Etymology

From French poison.

Noun

poison m (plural póisones)

1. (Louisiana) poison