noun · 3 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.
UK:/tɒkˈsɪs.ə.ti/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US, dialectal:/tɑkˈsɪs.ə.ti/of Canada
US, dialectal:[tɑkˈsɪs.ə.ɾi]of Canada
New-Jersey:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Canada, dialectal:/tɒkˈsɪs.ə.ti/of the US
Canada, dialectal:[tɒkˈsɪs.ə.ɾi]of the US
Australian:/tɔkˈsɪs.ə.ti/
Australian:[tɔkˈsɪs.ə.ɾi]
rhymes with -ɪsɪti
CMU ARPABET:T AA0 K S IH1 S AH0 T IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The quality or degree of being toxic.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Examples
Researchers tested the toxicity of the chemical compound.
The online discussion quickly descended into toxicity.
High levels of mercury can cause severe toxicity.
drug toxicity
liver toxicity
social toxicity
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: poisonousness, tox
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
grave harmfulness or deadliness
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: definite quantity
Narrower terms: cytotoxicity
History
Etymology
Etymology tree 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 *-kos Proto-Italic *-kos Latin -cus Latin toxicusbor. French toxiquebor. English toxic Proto-Indo-European *-teh2 Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh2ts Latin -itāsder. Old French -itebor. Middle English -ite English -ity English toxicity From toxic + -ity.
Across languages
Translations
50 source translations are retained for this English entry.
