Toxicization

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of making something harmful involves changing its characteristics to exhibit toxic qualities while causing adverse effects on health or the environment
2. The process through which substances or environments become poisonous entails modifying their inherent properties to create or increase their toxicity
3. The transformation of a substance or environment so it acquires harmful or poisonous properties that can damage living organisms or ecosystems

Etymology: Ancient Greek speakers called arrow poison "toxikon pharmakon," literally "bow poison," from "toxon," the word for bow. The Latin "toxicum" carried the same sense, and English took "toxic" from it as an adjective meaning poisonous. This noun is a plain modern formation built on that adjective. Adding the verb-forming suffix "-ize" gives "toxicize," to make something toxic, and the noun suffix "-ation" names the process. Like the adjective's English relatives, these pieces are English-made combinations of classical parts, so the Greeks and Romans would not have recognized the full word.