Toxications

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act or process of introducing harmful substances into the body or environment
2. the condition resulting from being poisoned by toxic agents or chemicals
3. an exposure that leads to adverse health effects due to the presence of poisonous materials

Etymology: "Toxications" is the plural of "toxication", a noun meaning the state of having been poisoned by toxic agents or chemicals. The noun is built in a straightforward way: it takes the adjective "toxic" and adds the suffix "-ation", a Latin-derived ending that turns verbs and adjectives into nouns of action or condition. Its ultimate source is the Greek word "toxikon", the poison in which arrows were dipped, which took its name from "toxon", the bow. The chain runs through Latin, where "toxicum" was borrowed from Greek and used for poison, then through French "toxique" into English "toxic". The "-ation" ending came into English through Old French "-ation" and Middle English "-acioun", both descended from Latin "-ātiō". Adding it to "toxic" produced "toxication" in English, and the plural "toxications" follows the normal pattern for count nouns.

Synonyms: poisoning, intoxications

Antonyms: detoxification, purification