Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 June 3

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June 3

Origin of the distinction between "poisonous" and "venomous"?

In technical usage, "venomous" and "poisonous" are considered distinct: the former describing animals that inject a toxin by bite or sting, the latter describing things that are harmful when consumed (and possibly also by contact/absorption). The definitions are distinct: it is considered technically incorrect to describe a snake as "poisonous" (unless it is harmful when eaten). Can anyone tell me when this distinction in use was first made? Its not a distinction that is usually made in informal speech (people have been talking about "poisonous snakes" at least as far back as Shakespeare - who also talked about "venomous toads"). More significantly, it doesn't seem to match the definitions of "venom" and "poison", which treat the former as a category of the latter, rather than two distinct things. It also doesn't appear to be a result of etymology - poison and venom both appear to derive from words referring to ingested poisons. Iapetus (talk) 09:20, 3 June 2021 (UTC)

The linked etymologies above suggest the distinction existed since the very beginning, when those words emerged. The word "poison" emerged c. 1200 to mean deadly potion, that is orally ingested toxin, while "venom" appeared in the same 13th century to indicate "poison secreted by some animals and transferred by biting", while "the meaning "bitter, virulent feeling or language" is first recorded c. 1300". Shakespeare already used the latter meaning. Brandmeister^talk 10:22, 3 June 2021 (UTC)