Etymology

exotoxin

E1X8O1T1O1X8I1N1

Today it means: Any toxin secreted by a microorganism into the surrounding environment. Full definition →

English toxin ← Latin toxicum ← Ancient Greek τοξικόν (toxikón)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁éǵʰ
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₁eǵʰs
  3. Proto-Hellenic*eks
  4. Ancient Greekἐκ (ek)
  5. Ancient Greekἔξω (éxō)
  6. Englishexo-
  7. Ancient Greekτόξον (tóxon)
  8. Ancient Greekτοξῐκός (toxĭkós)
  9. Ancient Greekτοξικόν (toxikón)
  10. Latintoxicum
  11. Englishtoxin
  12. English todayexotoxin

From exo- + toxin.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.