novichok

English

Alternative forms

• Novichok

Etymology

From Russian новичо́к (novičók, literally “newbie, newcomer”).

Noun

novichok (countable and uncountable, plural novichoks)

1. Any of a group of deadly organophosphate nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s to evade restrictions on chemical weapons.
   • 1995, Amy E. Smithson, Chemical Weapons Disarmament in Russia: Problems and Prospects, page 60:

     Those still fixated on the problem and not the solution will argue that the United States should take no action on the CWC until Russia “comes clean” about the novichok program under the Memorandum of Understanding.

   • 2013, Mahdi Balali-Mood, Mohammad Abdollahi, editors, Basic and Clinical Toxicology of Organophosphorus Compounds, page 14:

     Novichoks are allegedly the deadliest NAs ever produced and are potentially five to eight times more potent than VX.

   • 2018 March 13, Ian Sample, “Novichok nerve agents – what are they?”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Theresa May has identified the nerve agent used in the attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury as a novichok.

   • 2020 September 2, “Aleksei Navalny Was Poisoned With Novichok, Germany Says”, in New York Times‎^[2]:

     The poisoning also turned Novichok into something of a Russian calling card.

   • 2023 August 23, Pjotr Sauer, “Prigozhin’s death would leave lasting mark on Russian army and elite”, in The Guardian‎^[3], →ISSN:

     In an earlier interview with the Guardian, a Kremlin insider said that “in half a year or a year, novichok will catch up with Prigozhin,” a reference to the 2020 poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Synonyms

• foliant (CIA codename)

Translations

nerve agent

• Belarusian: навічо́к m (navičók)
• Bengali: নোভিচক (nōbhicok)
• Catalan: novitxok m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 諾維喬克／诺维乔克 (nuòwéiqiáokè)

• Czech: novičok (cs) m
• Dutch: novitsjok m
• Estonian: novitšok
• Finnish: novitšok
• French: novitchok (fr) m
• Georgian: ნოვიჩოკი (novičoḳi)
• German: Nowitschok m
• Greek: νοβιτσόκ m (novitsók)
• Hungarian: novicsok
• Italian: novičok m
• Japanese: ノビチョク (nobichoku)
• Korean: 노비초크 (nobichokeu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: novitsjok

• Polish: nowiczok (pl) m
• Portuguese: novichok m
• Russian: новичо́к (ru) m (novičók)
• Slovak: novičok m
• Slovene: novičok m
• Spanish: novichok m
• Turkish: novichok, noviçok
• Ukrainian: новичо́к m (novyčók)

Further reading

• Novichok agent on Wikipedia.Wikipedia