How to say "poisoning" in Japanese

Choosing the right word

中毒ちゅうどくJLPT N1approx.Common
noun, suru verb, intransitive verbThe general word for poisoning as a condition: harm caused when poison or a toxic substance enters the body. Use it for someone falling ill from poison, not for a deliberate killing.
毒殺どくさつCommon
noun, suru verb, transitive verbNot the condition but the act of killing a person with poison — 'poisoning (to death)'. Typical in accounts of murders or historical figures killed by poison; for illness from poison, use 中毒.
彼かれは妻つまを毒殺どくさつしたと言いわれている。↗
He is alleged to have poisoned his wife.

Use 中毒 for poisoning as a condition, harm caused by poison in the body; use 毒殺 only for the act of poisoning someone to death, that is, killing a person with poison.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

Japanese equivalents

中毒ちゅうどくpoisoning
毒殺どくさつkilling by poisoning
薬殺やくさつkilling by poison

JLPT vocabulary levels are community estimates, not official (no official lists have been published since the 2010 revision).

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