Etymology

toxalbumin

T1O1X8A1L1B3U1M3I1N1

Today it means: A protein which is toxic (i.e. organic and poisonous) Full definition →

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The story

From toxin 'organic poison' (from Middle Latin toxicus 'poisonous', from Latin toxicum 'poison (for arrows)', from Ancient Greek (toxikon), from (toxa) 'arrows', from (toxon) 'bow') + albumin 'protein' (from French albumine, from Latin albumen 'egg white', from albus 'white'). The term was first used in about 1890 by the research chemists Ludwig Brieger (1849-1919) and Sigmund Fraenkel (1868-1939).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.