In the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

, terms for types of killing often end in the

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carr ...

''-cide''.

Killing of self

Suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

, intentionally causing one's own death **

Altruistic suicide Altruistic suicide is the sacrifice of one's life in order to save or benefit others, for the good of the group, or to preserve the traditions and honor of a society. It is always intentional. Benevolent suicide refers to the self sacrifice of one ...

, suicide for the benefit of others **

Autocide A suicide method is any means by which a person chooses to end their life. Suicide attempts do not always result in death, and a nonfatal suicide attempt can leave the person with serious physical injuries, long-term health problems, and brai ...

, suicide by automobile ** Medicide, a suicide accomplished with the aid of a physician ** Murder-suicide, a suicide committed immediately after one or more murders **

Self-immolation The term self-immolation broadly refers to acts of altruistic suicide, otherwise the giving up of one's body in an act of sacrifice. However, it most often refers specifically to autocremation, the act of sacrificing oneself by setting oneself ...

, suicide by fire, often as a form of protest **

Suicide by cop Suicide by cop or suicide by police is a suicide method in which a suicidal individual deliberately behaves in a threatening manner, with intent to provoke a lethal response from a public safety or law enforcement officer. Overview There are ...

, acting in a threatening manner so as to provoke a lethal response from law

Killing of other people

All of these are considered types of

homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

Killing of family

Avunculicide Avunculicide is the act of killing an uncle.

– the act of killing an uncle ( la, avunculus "(maternal) uncle"). *

Familicide A familicide is a type of murder or murder-suicide in which one kills multiple close family members in quick succession, most often children, spouses, siblings, or parents. In half the cases, the killer lastly kills themselves in a murder-su ...

– is a multiple-victim homicide where a killer's spouse and children are slain ( la, familia "family"). * Filicide – the act of a parent killing their child ( la, filius "son" and la, filia "daughter"). *

Fratricide Fratricide (, from the Latin words ' "brother" and the assimilated root of ' "to kill, to cut down") is the act of killing one's own brother. It can either be done directly or via the use of either a hired or an indoctrinated intermediary (a ...

– the act of killing a brother ( la, frater "brother"); also, in military context, death by friendly fire. *

Geronticide Senicide, or geronticide, is the killing of the elderly, or their abandonment to death. Philosophical views Pythagorean doctrine held that all creatures were being punished by the gods who imprisoned the creatures' souls in a body. Thus, any ...

– the abandonment of the elderly to die, die by suicide or be killed. * Honour killing – the act of murdering a family member perceived to have brought disgrace to the family. *

Infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of resou ...

– the act of killing a child within the first year of its life. * Mariticide – the act of killing one's husband ( la, maritus “husband”). *

Matricide Matricide is the act of killing one's own mother. Known or suspected matricides * Amastrine, Amastris, queen of Heraclea, was drowned by her two sons in 284 BC. * Cleopatra III of Egypt was assassinated in 101 BC by order of her son, Pto ...

– the act of killing one's mother ( la, mater "mother"). *

Neonaticide Neonaticide is the deliberate act of a parent murdering their own child during the first 24 hours of life. As a noun, the word "neonaticide" may also refer to anyone who practices or who has practiced this. Neonaticide is relatively rare i ...

– the act of killing an infant within the first twenty-four hours or month (varies by individual and jurisdiction) of its life. * Nepoticide – the act of killing one's nephew. *

Parricide Parricide refers to the deliberate killing of one’s own father and mother, spouse (husband or wife), children, and/or close relative. However, the term is sometimes used more generally to refer to the intentional killing of a near relative. It ...

parenticide Patricide is (i) the act of killing one's own father, or (ii) a person who kills their own father or stepfather. The word ''patricide'' derives from the Greek word ''pater'' (father) and the Latin suffix ''-cida'' (cutter or killer). Patricide ...

– the killing of one's mother, father, or other close relative. *

Patricide Patricide is (i) the act of killing one's own father, or (ii) a person who kills their own father or stepfather. The word ''patricide'' derives from the Greek word ''pater'' (father) and the Latin suffix ''-cida'' (cutter or killer). Patricid ...

– the act of killing of one's father ( la, pater "father"). *

Prolicide Filicide is the deliberate act of a parent killing their own child. The word ''filicide'' is derived from the Latin words and ('son' and 'daughter') and the suffix ''-cide'', meaning to kill, murder, or cause death. The word can refer both ...

– the act of killing one's own children. *

Senicide Senicide, or geronticide, is the killing of the elderly, or their abandonment to death. Philosophical views Pythagorean doctrine held that all creatures were being punished by the gods who imprisoned the creatures' souls in a body. Thus, any ...

– the killing of one's elderly family members when they can no longer work or they have become a burden ( la, senex "old man"). * Siblicide – the killing of an infant individual by their close relatives (full or half siblings). * Sororicide – the act of killing one's sister ( la, soror "sister"). * Uxoricide – the act of killing one's wife ( la, uxor "wife").

Killing of others

Amicicide In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...

– the act of killing a friend ( la, amicus "friend") *

Androcide Androcide refers to the systematic killing of men, boys, or males in general. Worldwide, males constitute 79% of non-conflict homicides and the majority of direct conflict deaths. Lexicology ''Androcide'' is a coordinate term of femicide and ...

– the systematic killing of men. *

Assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

– the act of killing a prominent person for either political, religious, or monetary reasons. *

Capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

– the judicial killing of a human being for crimes. * Casualty – death (or injury) in wartime. *

Collateral damage Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts. Since the development of precision guided ...

– deaths during wartime due to imprecise or incorrect targeting or

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...

. *

Democide Democide is a term coined by American political scientist Rudolph Rummel to describe "the intentional killing of an unarmed or disarmed person by government agents acting in their authoritative capacity and pursuant to government policy or hig ...

or populicide – the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

of any person or people by a government. *

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...

– killing a portions of a population assessed to be inferior with the goal of improving the quality of the population as a whole *

Extrajudicial killing An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whethe ...

– killing by government forces without due process. See also

Targeted killing Targeted killing is a form of murder or assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield. Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and bet ...

. *

Euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

or mercy killing – the killing of any being with compassionate reasoning; e.g., significant injury or disease. * ''Familiaricide in commutatione eius possessio'' – the act of killing a family for their property and/or possessions (from la, familiaris "of a household"; "in exchange for"; and "a possession or property"). *

Femicide Femicide or feminicide is a hate crime which is broadly defined as "the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female," but definitions of it vary depending on cultural context. In 1976, the feminist author Diana E. H. Russel ...

, gynecide, gynaecide, or gynocide – the systematic killing of women. *

Feticide Foeticide (British English), or feticide (American and Canadian English), is the act of killing a fetus, or causing a miscarriage. Etymology Foeticide derives from two constituent Latin roots. ''Foetus'', meaning child, is an alternate form of ...

– the act of killing a fetus. *

Fragging Fragging is the deliberate or attempted killing by a soldier of a fellow soldier, usually a superior. U.S. military personnel coined the word during the Vietnam War, when such killings were most often attempted with a fragmentation grenade, so ...

- the act of killing a fellow soldier. *

Gendercide Gendercide is the systematic killing of members of a specific gender. The term is related to the general concepts of assault and murder against victims due to their gender, with violence against women and men being problems dealt with by human r ...

– the systematic killing of members of a specific sex or gender. *

Genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...

– the systematic extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group. *

Homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

– the act of killing of a person ( la, homo "man"). *

Justifiable homicide The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law is a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide). Generally, there is a burden of production of exculpatory evidence in the legal defense of justification. In most countri ...

– a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide) *

Human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherei ...

– the killing of a human for sacrificial, often religious, reasons. *

Massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

mass murder Mass murder is the act of murdering a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. The United States Congress defines mass killings as the killings of three or more pe ...

Spree killing A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations wi ...

– the killing of many people. *

Murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

– the malicious and unlawful killing of a human by another human. *

Manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

– murder, but under legally mitigating circumstances. * Omnicide – the act of killing all humans, to create intentional extinction of the human species ( la, omni "all, everyone"). *

Pedicide Pedicide, child murder, child manslaughter, or child homicide is the homicide of an individual who is a minor. Punishment by jurisdiction United States In 2008, there were 1,494 child homicides in the United States. Of those killed, 1,035 ...

– the act of killing a child. *

or geronticide – the act of killing an elderly person *

– a form of assassination which is carried out by governments against their perceived enemies. See also

. * Xenocide – the genocide of an entire

alien species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

. Often used in

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

, one famous example being the novel ''

Xenocide ''Xenocide'' (1991) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, the third book in the Ender's Game series. It was nominated for both the Hugo and Locus Awards for Best Novel in 1992. The title is a combination of ' xeno-', ...

'' by

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...

Killing of superiors

* Deicide – killing a god, divine being, or deity. *

Regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

– killing a ruler, a King/Queen ( la, rex,

gen. The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning"). ...

"king"). *

Tyrannicide Tyrannicide is the killing or assassination of a tyrant or unjust ruler, purportedly for the common good, and usually by one of the tyrant's subjects. Tyrannicide was legally permitted and encouraged in the Classical period. Often, the term tyr ...

– killing a tyrant.

Killing of animals, disease, and pests

* Algaecide – a chemical agent that kills algae *

Acaricide Acaricides are pesticides that kill members of the arachnid subclass ''Acari'', which includes ticks and mites. Acaricides are used both in medicine and agriculture, although the desired selective toxicity differs between the two fields. Termino ...

– a chemical agent that kills mites *

Avicide An avicide is any substance (normally a chemical) used to kill birds. Commonly used avicides include strychnine (also used as rodenticide and predacide), DRC-1339 (3-chloro-4-methylaniline hydrochloride, Starlicide) and CPTH (3-chloro-p-toluid ...

– a chemical agent that kills birds *

Bactericide A bactericide or bacteriocide, sometimes abbreviated Bcidal, is a substance which kills bacteria. Bactericides are disinfectants, antiseptics, or antibiotics. However, material surfaces can also have bactericidal properties based solely on their ...

– a chemical agent that kills bacteria. *

Biocide A biocide is defined in the European legislation as a chemical substance or microorganism intended to destroy, deter, render harmless, or exert a controlling effect on any harmful organism. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a sli ...

– a chemical agent that kills a broad spectrum of living organisms. *

Fungicide Fungicides are biocidal chemical compounds or biological organisms used to kill parasitic fungi or their spores. A fungistatic inhibits their growth. Fungi can cause serious damage in agriculture, resulting in critical losses of yield, quality ...

– chemical agents or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores. * Germicide – an agent that kills germs, especially pathogenic microorganisms; a disinfectant *

Herbicide Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page f ...

– an agent that kills unwanted plants, a weed killer. *

Insecticide Insecticides are substances used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, respectively. Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed t ...

– an agent that kills unwanted insects. *

Larvicide A larvicide (alternatively larvacide) is an insecticide that is specifically targeted against the larval life stage of an insect. Their most common use is against mosquitoes. Larvicides may be contact poisons, stomach poisons, growth regulators, o ...

(also ''larvacide'') – an insecticide targeted against the larval life stage of an insect. *

Microbicide An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms or stops their growth. Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they act primarily against. For example, antibiotics are used against bacteria, and antifungals ...

– an agent used to kill or reduce the infectiousness of microorganisms. * Miticide – a chemical to kill mites. * Nemacide (also ''nematicide'', ''nematocide'') – a chemical to eradicate or kill nematodes. *

Parasiticide Antiparasitics are a class of medications which are indicated for the treatment of parasitic diseases, such as those caused by helminths, amoeba, ectoparasites, parasitic fungi, and protozoa, among others. Antiparasitics target the parasitic agents ...

– a general term to describe an agent used to destroy parasites. * Pediculicide – an agent that kills head lice. *

Pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and ...

– a general term to describe an agent used to destroy or repel a pest. *

Rodenticide Rodenticides are chemicals made and sold for the purpose of killing rodents. While commonly referred to as "rat poison", rodenticides are also used to kill mice, squirrels, woodchucks, chipmunks, porcupines, nutria, beavers, and voles. Despi ...

- an agent that kills rodents (especially rats and mice). * Scabicide – a chemical agent for killing scabies. * Spermicide – a contraceptive agent to render sperm inert and prevent fertilization. *

Teniacide A taeniacide is a substance that kills tapeworms. This makes it a class of antihelminthic agents. It gets its name from the genus Taenia. Examples Natural taeniacides include pumpkin seed, cucumber and pomegranate. Some synthetic taeniacides ...

(also ''taeniacide'', ''tenicide'') – a chemical agent that kills tape worms. * Theriocide – the act of killing sentient animals, especially mammals (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

: therion "wild animal, beast") *

Vermicide Anthelmintics or antihelminthics are a group of antiparasitic drugs that expel parasitic worms (helminths) and other internal parasites from the body by either stunning or killing them and without causing significant damage to the host. They may ...

– an agent used to kill parasitic intestinal worms. * Virucide (also ''viricide'') – an agent capable of destroying or inhibiting viruses. * Vulpicide (also ''vulpecide'') – the killing of a fox by methods other than by hunting it with hounds.

Killing of intangibles or inanimates

* Ecocide – the destruction of the natural environment by such activity as war,

overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to replenish. The term ap ...

of resources, or

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, th ...

* Famacide,

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

or slander, the killing of another's reputation * Linguicide, intentionally causing the death of a language * Epistemicide, the systematic extermination of an entire knowledge system or intellectual heritage of a group, society or people. * Mundicide, the destruction of a planet * Urbicide, the destruction of a city or the stifling of urbanisation (''urbs'' is Latin for "city")

External links

{{wiktionary, English words suffixed with -cide * Types