tox(i)- Also toxico- and toxo-.

Toxin; toxic.

[Latin toxicum, poison, from Greek toxikon (pharmakon), (poison for) arrows, from toxon, bow.]

Toxicology is the branch of science concerned with the nature, effects, and detection of poisons; toxaemia (US toxemia) (Greek haima, blood) is blood poisoning by toxins from a local bacterial infection; toxaphene (from the second element of the related compound camphene) is a synthetic substance used as an insecticide; something toxigenic, such as a bacterium, produces a toxin or toxic effect. Toxocara (Greek kara, head) is a parasitic nematode worm which can cause toxocariasis (Greek kara, head), an illness that can lead to a risk of blindness; similarly toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by protozoa called toxoplasmas, transmitted chiefly through undercooked meat, soil, or in cat faeces. The original Greek sense survives in the rather rare toxophily (Greek -philos, loving), a love or enthusiasm for archery.

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