poison
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poison
- /ˈpɔɪ.zən/ US, UK
- /ˈpoj.zən/ British, Southern, Standard
- /ˈpoɪ.zən/ Australia, New Zealand
Rhymes with -ɔɪzən
Where it comes from
From Middle English poysoun, poyson, pusoun, from Old French poison, poisun, from Latin pōtiōnem (“drink, a draught, a poisonous draught, a potion”), from pōtō (“to drink”). See also potion and potable (from the same root). Mostly displaced native Old English ātor and lybb. See more at atter.
noun poisons
-
A substance that is harmful or lethal to a living organism when ingested.
Near-synonym: (loosely) venom
Similar: atter, bane, contaminant, pollutant, toxin
- Anything harmful to a person or thing. Gossip is a malicious poison.
- An alcoholic drink. (Mainly in the phrases "name your poison" and "what's your poison?") — What's your poison? — I'll have a glass of whiskey.
- Any substance that inhibits catalytic activity. The temperature effect of poisons. The influence of poison on the catalyst can be different with the change of reaction conditions.
verb poisons · poisoning · poisoned
- To use poison to kill or paralyse (somebody). The assassin poisoned the king.
-
To pollute; to cause to become poisonous.
That factory is poisoning the river.
Similar: contaminate, pollute, taint
- To cause to become much worse. Suspicion will poison their relationship.
- To cause (someone) to hate or to have unfair negative opinions. She's poisoned him against all his old friends.
- To inhibit the catalytic activity of.
- To place false or malicious data into (a cache, etc.) as part of an exploit. In this technique, the hacker poisons the cache to launch malware into Web pages.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: envenom, poisonous, venom, toxicant, toxicological, wourali, toxic, toxin, toxicology, pest, plague, drug, bile, pill, toxics, detoxification
Translations
Every language
noun something that harms
| Ελληνικά | δηλητήριο dilitírio |
|---|
noun liquor
| Ελληνικά | ποτό potó |
|---|
noun substance harmful to a living organism
| Español | veneno, ponzoña |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 독 dok |
| 日本語 | 毒 doku |
| 中文 | 毒 dú, 毒物 dúwù, 毒藥 /毒药 dúyào |
| हिन्दी | बिस bis, विष viṣ, ज़हर zahar, हलाहल halāhal |
| Kiswahili | sumu |
| Português | veneno, tóxico |
| Français | poison |
| Deutsch | Gift, Giftstoff |
| Italiano | veleno |
| Ελληνικά | δηλητήριο dilitírio, φαρμάκι farmáki |
| Română | otravă, venin |
| Русский | яд jad, отра́ва otráva |
| Tiếng Việt | chất độc, thuốc độc, độc |
| العربية | سُمّ summ |
| עברית | רַעַל rá'al, סַם sam |
verb to use poison to kill or paralyse — see also envenom, intoxicate
| Español | emponzoñar, aponzoñar (disused) |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 독살하다 doksalhada |
| 日本語 | 毒殺する dokusatsu suru, 毒害する dokugai suru |
| 中文 | 毒害 dúhài, 毒死 dúsǐ, 毒殺 /毒杀 dúshā |
| Português | envenenar, empeçonhar, intoxicar |
| Français | empoisonner |
| Deutsch | vergiften |
| Italiano | avvelenare, intossicare |
| Ελληνικά | δηλητηριάζω dilitiriázo, φαρμακώνω farmakóno |
| Română | otrăvi, învenina, intoxica |
| Русский | отравля́ть otravljátʹ, трави́ть travítʹ, отрави́ть otravítʹ |
| العربية | سَمَّمَ sammama, سَمَّ samma |
verb pollute
| Ελληνικά | μολύνω molýno |
|---|---|
| Русский | отравля́ть otravljátʹ, трави́ть travítʹ, отрави́ть otravítʹ |
verb make worse
| Ελληνικά | δηλητηριάζω dilitiriázo |
|---|---|
| Русский | отравля́ть otravljátʹ, отрави́ть otravítʹ |
Talk about this word "poison." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/poison. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. poison. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/poison "poison." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/poison.Cite this
@misc{poison_2026,
title = {poison},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/poison},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
