So, I was reading (okay, stop rolling your eyes, oy), so anyway, I read a sentence about a toxin, and I got to wondering just what was the difference in this word confusion of poison vs toxin?
Essentially, both poison and toxin harm living organisms.
Technically, poison is a manufactured product that kills.
A toxin is a naturally occurring organism that kills.
Either way, ick.
Exploring Later . . .
You may want to explore “Poisonous versus Venomous“.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Poison | Toxin |
|---|---|
 — |
 — |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun; Verb, transitive
Plural for the noun: poisons Third person present verb: poisons |
Noun
Plural: toxins |
| Adjective: Poisonous Noun:
[Chemistry] A substance that reduces the activity of a catalyst
Verb, transitive:
[Chemistry; of a substance] To reduce the activity of (a catalyst) To pollute To have a harmful influence on
|
Noun: A naturally occurring poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms, especially one produced by or derived from microorganisms and causing disease when present at low concentration in the body A poisonous or harmful nonbiological substance, such as a pollutant |
| Examples: | |
| Adjective: Be careful of those poison shrubs. Look out! It’s a cloud of poison gas! The evil queen gave Snow White poison apples. Noun: What’s your poison? The shelf contained strong chemical poisons. Meanwhile he is spreading his poison over the internet. Leaded fuel was the poison that improved catalyst selectivity. “Burnable absorbers (BAs), also known as burnable neutron poisons, are materials inserted into a nuclear reactor core that contain non-fissile nuclei with large neutron-absorption cross sections” (Evans). Verb, transitive: Swans are being poisoned by lead from anglers’ lines. He claimed the guards had poisoned his food. Noxious fumes poison the air. Hunters would use the sap of monkshood to poison their spears. The bombings poisoned the political atmosphere and deepened the social divide. An important historic example was the poisoning of catalytic converters by leaded fuel. Jealousy poisoned their friendship. Hate speech poisons the minds of men. |
Noun: Tests showed increased levels of toxins in fish. “Scientists have discovered an environment-friendly toxin belonging to botox family that selectively targets mosquitos and could reduce malaria” (Could). “The above symptoms, however, are not caused by the bacterium itself, but by the toxin produced by the bacterium” (Botulism). Cholera is primarily caused by Vibrio cholerae, a toxin produced by the microorganism responsible for this disease. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: poisoned, poisonous Adverb: poisonously Noun: poisoner, poisoning |
Noun: antitoxin, exotoxin, genitotoxin, hemotoxin, hepatotoxin, neurotoxin, phototoxin, toxicant |
| History of the Word: | |
| Middle English denoting a harmful medicinal draft from the Old French poison meaning magic potion, from the Latin potio(n-) meaning potion, related to potare meaning to drink. | Late 19th century, from toxic + -in, an alteration of -ine. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
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Resources for Poison versus Toxin
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Apple Dictionary.com
“Botulism is Rare But Deadly.” Business Mirror. 7 Feb 2019. Accessed 4 Nov 2024. Article.
“Could Botox Cousin Reduce Malaria?” Asian News International. 28 June 2019. Accessed 4 Nov 2024. <https://www.aninews.in/news/health/could-botox-cousin-reduce-malaria20190628192228/>. Article.
The Free Dictionary: poison
Evans, Jordan A, Mark D DeHart, Kevan D Weaver, and Dennis D Keiser Jr. “Burnable Absorbers in Nuclear Reactors.” Science Direct. vol 391. May 2022. Accessed 4 Nov 2024. <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0029549322000802>. Review.
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