The word toxic used as an adjective is defined as ‘poisonous’ and it first appeared in English in the mid-seventeenth century. The word is derived from the Latin toxicus, meaning ‘poisoned’ or ‘imbued with poison’. The Latin word has its origins from the Greek term ‘toxikon pharmakon’ which means ‘lethal poison’. The Greek term for poison is ‘pharmakon’ while ‘toxikon’ in Greek means ‘bow/arrow’. Why? Because the arrows were smeared with poison in Ancient Greece.
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