Standard Lemma guide

neurotoxin

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈn(j)ʊɹoʊtɑksɪn/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A toxin that specifically acts upon neurons, their synapses, or the nervous system in its entirety.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: medicine, neuroscience, pharmacology, sciences, toxicology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

any toxin that affects neural tissues

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: neurolysin

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: toxin

Narrower terms: botulinum toxin, domoic acid, saxitoxin, kokoi venom, tetrodotoxin

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *(s)neh1- Proto-Indo-European *-wr̥ Proto-Indo-European *snéh1wr̥der. Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron) Ancient Greek νευρο- (neuro-)der. English neuro- Ancient Greek τόξον (tóxon) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ῐκός (-ĭkós) Ancient Greek τοξῐκός (toxĭkós) Ancient Greek τοξικόν (toxikón)der. Latin toxicum Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Italic *-īnos Latin -īnusder. Old French -inbor. Middle English -in English -ineclip. English -in English toxin English neurotoxin From neuro- + toxin.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: neurotoxina — type of toxin
  • Chinese Mandarin: 神經毒素 /神经毒素 (shénjīngdúsù) — type of toxin
  • Czech: neurotoxin — type of toxin
  • Finnish: hermomyrkky — type of toxin
  • Finnish: neurotoksiini — type of toxin
  • French: neurotoxine — type of toxin
  • German: Nervengift — type of toxin
  • German: Neurotoxin — type of toxin
  • Greek: νευροτοξίνη (nevrotoxíni) — type of toxin
  • Icelandic: taugaeitur — type of toxin
  • Japanese: 神経毒 (shinkeidoku) — type of toxin
  • Polish: neurotoksyna — type of toxin
  • Portuguese: neurotoxina — type of toxin
  • Romanian: neurotoxină — type of toxin
  • Russian: нейротокси́н (nejrotoksín) — type of toxin
  • Swedish: nervgift — type of toxin
  • Ukrainian: нейротоксин (nejrotoksyn) — type of toxin
Real reading context

neurotoxin in complete knowledge articles