Word of the Day

: May 7, 2010

intoxicate

verb in-TAHK-suh-kayt

What It Means

1 : poison

2 a : to excite or stupefy by alcohol or a drug especially to the point where physical and mental control is markedly diminished

b : to excite or elate to the point of enthusiasm or frenzy

intoxicate in Context

“He encouraged them, cajoled them, tried to intoxicate them with learning....” (Luisa Yanez, The Miami Herald, July 22, 2005)

Did You Know?

For those who think that alcohol and drugs qualify as poisons, the history of "intoxicate" offers some etymological evidence to bolster your argument. “Intoxicate” traces back to “toxicum,” the Latin word for “poison” -- and the earliest meaning of "intoxicate" was just that: "to poison." This sense is now extremely rare, and we currently talk about such harmless things as flowers and perfume having the power to intoxicate. "Toxicum" turns up in the etymologies of a number of other English words including "toxic" ("poisonous"), "intoxicant" ("something that intoxicates") and "detoxify" ("to remove a poison from"), as well as a number of the names for various poisons themselves.