English edit

Etymology edit

Attested since 1917, apparently a back-formation from detoxify. (attested since 1905). Equivalent to tox- +‎ -ify.

Verb edit

toxify (third-person singular simple present toxifies, present participle toxifying, simple past and past participle toxified)

  1. (transitive) To make or render toxic.
    • 1917 June, F. G Novy, P. H. DeKruif, “Nonspecific anaphylactic shock in sensitized rats”, in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, number 6, page 819:
      The experiments made with this objective showed that agar-gel could toxify a rat serum which had been heated at 45 an 50 C. for half an hour.

Antonyms edit

Derived terms edit