Genocide definitions include many scholarly and international legal definitions of
genocide,
[Based on a list by Adam Jones .] a word coined with ''genos'' (
Greek: "birth", "kind", or "race") and an English suffix ''-cide'' by
Raphael Lemkin
Raphael Lemkin ( pl, Rafał Lemkin; 24 June 1900 – 28 August 1959) was a Polish lawyer who is best known for coining the term ''genocide'' and initiating the Genocide Convention, an interest spurred on after learning about the Armenian genocid ...
in 1944;
[Oxford English Dictionary "Genocide" citing Raphael Lemkin ''Axis Rule in Occupied Europe'' ix. 79] however, the precise etymology of the word is a compound of the ancient Greek word ''γένος'' ("birth", "genus", or "kind") or Latin word ''gēns'' ("tribe", or "clan") and the Latin word ''caedō'' ("cut", or "kill"). While there are various definitions of the term, almost all international bodies of law officially adjudicate the crime of genocide pursuant to the
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG).
This and other definitions are generally regarded by the majority of genocide scholars to have an "
intent to destroy
''Intent to Destroy: Death, Denial, & Depiction'' is a 2017 documentary film directed by Joe Berlinger about the Armenian genocide.
Production
Berlinger embedded in the filming crew of '' The Promise'' to shoot ''Intent to Destroy''. The film p ...
" as a requirement for any act to be labelled genocide; there is also growing agreement on the inclusion of the physical destruction criterion. Writing in 1998, Kurt Jonassohn and Karin Björnson stated that the CPPCG was a legal instrument resulting from a diplomatic compromise; the wording of the treaty is not intended to be a definition suitable as a research tool, and although it is used for this purpose, as it has an international legal credibility that others lack, other definitions have also been postulated. Jonassohn and Björnson go on to say that for various reasons, none of these alternative definitions have gained widespread support.
List of definitions
See also
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Outline of Genocide studies
Notes
Bibliography
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* A collection of genocide definitions by the
Aegis Trust
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{{Genocide topics
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Crimes
Genocide
Murder