antitoxin

noun

an·​ti·​tox·​in ˌan-ti-ˈtäk-sən 

: an antibody that is capable of neutralizing the specific toxin (such as a specific causative agent of disease) that stimulated its production in the body and is produced in animals for medical purposes by injection of a toxin or toxoid with the resulting serum being used to counteract the toxin in other individuals

also : an antiserum containing antitoxins

Examples of antitoxin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Mortality is high; without the antitoxin and respiratory support, death is likely. —Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025

If someone develops any of these symptoms, seek immediate medical attention, as antitoxin may be needed. —Neha Mukherjee, CNN, 11 Feb. 2025

Unfortunately, the antitoxin can’t correct existing nerve damage, and long-term effects could persist for months, Madan tells USA TODAY. —Caroline C. Boyle, USA TODAY, 9 Feb. 2025

Alerted by Welch, public health officials devised a plan to send additional antitoxin by rail from Seward to Nenana, located 674 miles away from Nome. —David Kindy, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

anti- + toxin, probably after Italian antitossina or German Antitoxin (both perhaps calqued on German Gegengift "antidote")

Note: Probably introduced by the Italian pathologist Guido Tizzoni (1853-1932), who used the word in Tizzoni and Giuseppina Cattani, "Sulla proprietà dell'antitossina del tetano," Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, Serie Quarta, Rendiconti, vol. 7 (1891), 1. semestre, pp. 333-37; and in Guido Tizzoni, "Ueber die experimentelle Immunität gegen den Tetanus," Internationale Beiträge zur wissenschaftlichen Medicin: Festschrift, Rudolf Virchow gewidmet, Band 3 (Berlin, 1891), pp. 31-60. The term antitoxin is associated with the German pathologist Emil von Behring, though its use by Behring appears to be subsequent to Tissoni's; for background see Derek S. Linton, Emil von Behring: Infectious Disease, Immunology, Serum Therapy (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 2005).

First Known Use

1877, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for antitoxin

• aflatoxin
• digitoxin
• endotoxin
• exotoxin
• ferredoxin
• mycotoxin
• neurotoxin
• picrotoxin
• alloxan
• digoxin
• dioxan
• dioxin

Kids Definition

antitoxin

noun

an·​ti·​tox·​in ˌant-i-ˈtäk-sən 

: an antibody that is formed in response to a foreign and usually poisonous substance introduced into the body and that can often be produced in animals for use in treating human diseases (as tetanus)

antitoxic

-sik

adjective

Medical Definition

antitoxin

noun

an·​ti·​tox·​in ˌant-i-ˈtäk-sən 

: an antibody that is capable of neutralizing the specific toxin (as a specific causative agent of disease) that stimulated its production in the body and is produced in animals for medical purposes by injection of a toxin or toxoid with the resulting serum being used to counteract the toxin in other individuals

also : an antiserum containing antitoxins