envenom

English

Alternative forms

• invenom (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English envenymen, from Old French envenimer (“to poison, taint”); equivalent to en- +‎ venom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvɛnəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

envenom (third-person singular simple present envenoms, present participle envenoming, simple past and past participle envenomed)

1. (transitive) To inject or put venom onto or into (someone or something).

   Synonyms: envenomate, venomize

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     As when Alcides from Oealia Crown’d
     With conqueſt, felt th’ envenom’d robe, and tore
     Through pain up by the roots Theſſalian Pines […]

   • 1818–1819, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Julian and Maddalo; a Conversation”, in Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, editor, Posthumous Poems of Percy Bysshe Shelley, London: […] [C. H. Reynell] for John and Henry L[eigh] Hunt, […], published 1824, →OCLC, page 18:

     Nay, was it I who wooed thee to this breast, / Which like a serpent thou envenomest / As in repayment of the warmth it lent?

   • 1833, Robert Browning, Pauline:

     Ah dearest, whoso sucks a poisoned wound
     Envenoms his own veins!

   • 1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 17:

     The Kayans of Central Borneo ascribe souls to the trees which yield the poison they use to envenom their arrows.

2. (transitive) To acerbate, make bitter.
   • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 190, column 2:

     Oh what a world is this, when what is comely
     Enuenoms him that beares it?

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with poison
• According to Samuel Johnson, the word is "never used of the person to whom poison is given, but of the draught, meat, or instrument by which it is conveyed." "envenom, v.a." A Dictionary of the English Language, by Samuel Johnson. 1755. Accessed 2022/02/27. https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/1755/envenom_va

Conjugation

Conjugation of envenom

infinitive	(to) envenom
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	envenom	envenomed
2nd-person singular	envenom, envenomest†	envenomed, envenomedst†
3rd-person singular	envenoms, envenometh†	envenomed
plural	envenom
subjunctive	envenom	envenomed
imperative	envenom	—
participles	envenoming	envenomed

^† Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

• envenomed
• envenomer

Related terms

• envenomation
• venomous