'detoxify' originates from the combining elements 'de-' (from Latin) and 'toxic' (from Greek 'toxikon'), and the verb-forming suffix '-ify' (from Latin '-ificare' via French), specifically the element 'detox' (from 'de-' + 'toxic') and the suffix '-ify', where 'de-' meant 'removal' and Greek 'toxikon' meant 'poison'.

'detoxify' changed from the noun 'detoxification' and the clipped form 'detox' (a 20th-century medical/popular shortening of 'detoxification') and eventually became the modern English verb 'detoxify' (with past 'detoxified').

Initially, it meant 'to remove toxic substances (especially from the body)', but over time it evolved into its current meaning of 'to remove toxins or harmful substances, literally or figuratively'.