intoxicate
Meaning
To cause someone to lose control of their faculties or behavior, typically by alcohol or a drug.
To excite or exhilarate someone to a point beyond self-control.
Structure
Usage
The fumes from the chemicals were enough to intoxicate the workers in the poorly ventilated room.
He was charged with driving while intoxicated.
The sheer beauty of the symphony seemed to intoxicate the entire audience.
Etymology
The word 'intoxicate' originates from the Medieval Latin verb intoxicare, meaning "to poison". This Latin term was built from the prefix in- ("into") and toxicum ("poison"), which itself derived from the Latin toxicus ("poisoned"), relating to poisoned arrows. The Greek root toxikon (pharmakon) referred specifically to "poison for smearing on arrows," from toxon ("bow"). The modern sense of "to make drunk" emerged in the late 16th century, based on the concept of a powerful substance (alcohol) entering the body and affecting it like a poison, leading to a state of altered mental and physical control.
Analysis
- in: Latin origin, a prefix meaning "in, into, on". - toxic: Latin origin, from toxicum (poison). It functions as the core root denoting poison. - ate: Latin origin via French, a verb-forming suffix meaning "to make, to act upon".