Containing or producing substances that cause death or serious harm when ingested, absorbed, or inhaled.
From Old French 'poison' (potion, drink) from Latin 'potio' (drink). Originally neutral, it acquired negative connotations when referring to harmful substances. The suffix '-ous' indicates 'full of' or 'having the quality of'.
Interestingly, 'poisonous' technically describes something harmful when eaten, while 'venomous' describes something that injects toxins - so a snake is venomous, but a mushroom is poisonous, though we often use them interchangeably.
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