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 as an adjective describing something (such as the tip of an arrow or dart) steeped in or smeared with poison. That meaning dates to the 15th century; the related verb, meaning "to poison," occurs in the 16th. Both senses are now obsolete. Today, we 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 names for various poisons themselves.
Verb The little bit of beer I drank was not enough to intoxicate me. the stunning spectacle of this Las Vegas show is sure to intoxicate spectators
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Add to the meal a glass of wine to softly intoxicate the senses, and relaxation is guaranteed. Michael Alpiner, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2021 The couple moved from Burgundy more than a decade ago, intoxicated by the landscape and the richness of the soil. Sarah Souli, Travel + Leisure, 25 May 2020 The officer talked to the resident, who was clearly intoxicated. John Benson, cleveland, 6 May 2020 This founding and intoxicating discovery needed to be perpetually confirmed, repeated.New York Times, 28 Apr. 2020 Just like the book, the series follows the intoxicating romance between Marianne and Connell, two teenagers from very different backgrounds, living in a small west Ireland town. Jessica Morgan, refinery29.com, 17 Jan. 2020 Short for cannabidiol, CBD is a non-intoxicating molecule found in hemp and marijuana.NBC News, 7 Jan. 2020 Short for cannabidiol, CBD is a non-intoxicating molecule found in hemp and marijuana.Time, 7 Jan. 2020 When funneled over a chilled tube of coiled metal, these intoxicating cloudlets condense into tiny, high-proof drops that drip into a separate container. Ali Bouzari, SFChronicle.com, 30 Dec. 2019 See More
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English, from Medieval Latin intoxicatus, past participle of intoxicare, from Latin in- + toxicum poison — more at toxic