toxin

T1O1X8I1N1
UK/ˈtɒksɪn/US/ˈtɑksɪn/

noun

A toxic substance, specifically a poison produced by the biological processes of organisms.

Similar
toxicant
Opposite
antitoxinantidoteantivenom
OriginLatin toxicum ← Ancient Greek τοξικόν (toxikón) →
Less commonScrabble 12
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Meanings

nountoxin (plural toxins)

plural toxins

  1. strictlyA toxic substance, specifically a poison produced by the biological processes of organisms.

    The blue-ringed octopus Hapalochlaena lunulata has tetrodotoxin, the deadly toxin it also releases in a bite, in their ink but the concentrations and effect in inking are not known.

    2017 August 9, Mark Carnall, “Why do cephalopods produce ink? And what's ink made of, anyway?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2023

    Antonyms: antitoxin, antidote, antivenom

  2. broadlyproscribedusuallySynonym of toxicant: a toxic substance in a body requiring removal.

    Synonyms: toxicant

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA toxic substance, specifically a poison produced by the biological processes of organisms.

Opposite
antitoxinantidoteantivenom

nounSynonym of toxicant: a toxic substance in a body requiring removal.

Similar
toxicant
Broader
poisontoxicant
Narrower
venom
Also see
poison

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekτόξον (tóxon)
  2. Ancient Greekτοξῐκός (toxĭkós)
  3. Ancient Greekτοξικόν (toxikón)
  4. Latintoxicum
  5. Englishtoxin

From Latin toxicum, equivalent to toxi- + -in.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan toxina
  • toxinaa toxic or poisonous substance
Chinese Cantonese 毒素
  • 毒素 (duk⁶ sou³)a toxic or poisonous substance
Chinese Mandarin 毒素
  • 毒素 (dúsù)a toxic or poisonous substance
Czech toxin
  • toxina toxic or poisonous substance
Danish giftstof, toksin
  • giftstofa toxic or poisonous substance
  • toksina toxic or poisonous substance
Esperanto toksino
  • toksinoa toxic or poisonous substance
Finnish toksiini, myrkky
  • toksiinia toxic or poisonous substance
  • myrkkya toxic or poisonous substance
French toxine
  • toxinea toxic or poisonous substance
German Toxin, Giftstoff
  • Toxina toxic or poisonous substance
  • Giftstoffa toxic or poisonous substance
Greek τοξίνη
  • τοξίνη (toxíni)a toxic or poisonous substance
Hungarian méreg
  • mérega toxic or poisonous substance
Indonesian toksin
  • toksina toxic or poisonous substance
Irish tocsain
  • tocsaina toxic or poisonous substance
Italian tossina
  • tossinaa toxic or poisonous substance
Japanese 毒素
  • 毒素 (dokuso)a toxic or poisonous substance
Korean 독소
  • 독소 (dokso)a toxic or poisonous substance
Latvian toksīns
  • toksīnsa toxic or poisonous substance
Malay toksin
  • toksina toxic or poisonous substance
Māori tāoke
  • tāokea toxic or poisonous substance
Norwegian Bokmål giftstoff, toksin
  • giftstoffa toxic or poisonous substance
  • toksina toxic or poisonous substance
Persian زهرابه
  • زهرابه (zahrâbe)a toxic or poisonous substance
Polish toksyna
  • toksynaa toxic or poisonous substance
Portuguese toxina
  • toxinaa toxic or poisonous substance
Romanian toxină
  • toxinăa toxic or poisonous substance
Russian токси́н
  • токси́н (toksín)a toxic or poisonous substance
Spanish toxina
  • toxinaa toxic or poisonous substance
Swedish toxin
  • toxina toxic or poisonous substance
Vietnamese toxin, độc tố
  • toxina toxic or poisonous substance
  • độc tốa toxic or poisonous substance

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with toxin

dioxindigoxinthyroxinelevothyroxinetocsinamatoxinantiantitoxindifenoxingastrotoxinkurtoxinlycotoxinmitotoxinophiotoxinvomitoxin
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

tocsin
Cite this entry
APA

toxin. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toxin

MLA

“toxin.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toxin. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “toxin,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/toxin.

Source: toxin on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.