Why “venefice” is a great word
VENEFICE — [Noun] The act or practice of poisoning, especially when entwined with sorcery. From Latin venēficium, from venēficus ("poisoner, sorcerer"), itself from venēnum ("poison, drug, charm") and -ficus ("making"). Unlike "toxicology," a sterile science of dosages and antidotes, or "sorcery," a broad canopy of supernatural arts, venefice is the specific, shadowed confluence of craft and chemistry. It is the careful grinding of wolfsbane root, the whispered incantation over a vial, the stealthy administration of a tainted draught—a cold reminder that the oldest betrayals are not of the heart, but of the body, where malice becomes a quiet and practiced art.