different between poisonous vs cowbane

English

Etymology

From Middle English poisounous, poysonouse, equivalent to poison +? -ous.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p??z?n?s/, /?p??zn?s/

Adjective

poisonous (comparative more poisonous, superlative most poisonous)

1. Containing sufficient poison to be dangerous to touch or ingest.

   Synonyms: poisoned, toxic, venomous, (dialectal or archaic) attery

   Antonyms: nonpoisonous, unpoisonous

2. (figuratively) Negative, harmful.

   Synonym: toxic

Usage notes

Some speakers make a distinction between poisonous (releasing toxins when eaten), and venomous (releasing toxins (known as venom in this case) by biting a target), especially in non-colloquial speech.

Derived terms

Translations

English

Etymology

cow +? bane

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka?be?n/

Noun

cowbane (usually uncountable, plural cowbanes)

1. Any of several related poisonous plants of the genus Cicuta
2. Cicuta virosa, the name species of this genus.

Synonyms

• (plant in Cicuta): water hemlock, poison parsnip
• (Cicuta virosa): northern water hemlock

Translations

References

• OED 2nd edition 1989

Further reading

• cowbane on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Cicuta on Wikipedia.Wikipedia