TrossL has a limerick on OEDILF on detoxication (a very good one, too!). In looking the word up in the online OED, the one word that comes up is detoxicate and detoxication, and then it says "also detoxify and detoxification.

My first choice would be detoxify or detoxification. Which would be your first choice? I am wondering if detoxicate and detoxication are used in England.

I think I'd use detoxify and detoxification. I didn't know such a word as detoxicate existed before now. It makes sense, though, as intoxicate is in common use.

Yes, intoxicate would be used here, too, as would detoxify. I am mystified by the OED then. I thought maybe this was an American/British difference.

It's probably a section that has not been updated in a while. When and where are the citations from?

[Addendum: This 1922 medical dictionary has detoxicate as the main entry and detoxify simple refers to it (link). The OED1 only has a very short entry, which cites its definition, and it does not have one for detoxify. I suppose it was coined after intoxicate / intoxication. I will try to use the non-word intoxify in my water cooler verbiage sessions today. Most of the early gbhits I came across (link) seem to be American, early in the twentieth century, and in medical journals and such.]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,

trans. To deprive of poisonous qualities.

1867 Pall Mall G. No. 729. 2043/2 Defecated, detoxicated, and deodorized. 1906 Practitioner Nov. 590 Focalisation of the infection in the liver, with disturbance of its detoxicating mechanism. 1927 Observer 7 Aug. 3 It detoxicates the blood and keeps it clean and free-running. 1964 Economist 14 Mar. 1020/3 A toxic amine, which ordinarily is detoxicated in the liver.

When I put "detoxify" or "detoxification" in the online OED, only "detoxicate" comes up. That's what I find odd.

Here are the first quotes:

1867 Pall Mall G. No. 729. 2043/2 Defecated, detoxicated, and deodorized. 1906 Practitioner Nov. 590 Focalisation of the infection in the liver, with disturbance of its detoxicating mechanism. 1927 Observer 7 Aug. 3 It detoxicates the blood and keeps it clean and free-running. 1964 Economist 14 Mar. 1020/3 A toxic amine, which ordinarily is detoxicated in the liver.