TOXIN
What does "TOXIN" mean?
A poisonous substance, especially one produced by a living organism.
Meanings
- A poison made by a plant, animal, or microorganism, capable of causing disease when introduced into the body. The cholera toxin is what makes the infection so dangerous. technical
Did you know?
- Botulinum toxin is reckoned among the most lethal substances on Earth: by some estimates a single evenly dispersed gram could kill more than a million people.
- Botox is exactly that nightmare poison - botulinum toxin - purified and diluted so tiny doses simply paralyze the muscles that make wrinkles.
Word origin
Coined in the 1880s by adding the chemical suffix '-in' to the root of 'toxic', from Greek 'toxikon', 'arrow poison', from 'toxon', 'bow'.
Remember it
A TOXIN is a TOXIC thing made by life: swap the 'c' for an 'n' and you've turned the adjective 'toxic' into the noun for the poison itself.
A little poem
The frog wears warning-
bright skin, a quiet promise:
do not taste this gold.
haiku
What it teaches
Nature's deadliest gifts and its medicines are often the same molecule; the difference is only the dose.
Quick facts
What does TOXIN mean?
A poisonous substance, especially one produced by a living organism.
Is TOXIN a valid word?
Yes — TOXIN is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is TOXIN?
TOXIN has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does TOXIN come from?
Coined in the 1880s by adding the chemical suffix '-in' to the root of 'toxic', from Greek 'toxikon', 'arrow poison', from 'toxon', 'bow'.
What can TOXIN teach us?
Nature's deadliest gifts and its medicines are often the same molecule; the difference is only the dose.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.