envenom
verb/ɪnˈvɛnəm/
Etymology From Middle English envenymen, from Old French envenimer (“to poison, taint”); equivalent to en- + venom.
1
To inject or put venom onto or into (someone or something).
- As when Alcides from Oealia Crown’d With conqueſt, felt th’ envenom’d robe, and tore Through pain up by the roots Theſſalian Pines […]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:
- Nay, was it I who wooed thee to this breast, / Which like a serpent thou envenomest / As in repayment of the warmth it lent?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:
2 more examples
- Ah dearest, whoso sucks a poisoned wound Envenoms his own veins!1833, Robert Browning, Pauline:
- The Kayans of Central Borneo ascribe souls to the trees which yield the poison they use to envenom their arrows.1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 17:
2
To acerbate, make bitter.
- Oh what a world is this, when what is comely Enuenoms him that beares it?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:
- Related terms
- envenomation, venomous