Page 365 - Word Power Made Easy: The Complete Handbook for Building a Superior Vocabulary

Murder unfortunately is an integral part of human life, so there is a word for almost

every kind of killing you can think of. Let’s look at some of them.

1. suicide (S ′-Ə-sīd′)—killing oneself (intentionally); -cide plus sui, of oneself. This is
both the act and the person who has been completely successful in performing the act
(partially doesn’t count); also, in colloquial usage, suicide is a verb. The adjective?
__________________.

2. fratricide (FRAT′-rƏ-sīd′)—the killing of one’s brother; -cide plus frater, fratris, brother.
The adjective? __________________.

3 . sororicide (sƏ-RAWR′-Ə-sīd′)—the killing of one’s sister; -cide plus soror, sister. The
adjective? __________________.
4. homicide (HOM′-Ə-sīd′)—the killing of a human being; -cide plus homo, person. In law,

homicide is the general term for any slaying. If intent and premeditation can be proved, the
act is murder and punishable as such. If no such intent is present, the act is called
manslaughter and receives a lighter punishment. Thus, if your mate/lover/spouse makes
your life unbearable and you slip some arsenic into his/her co ee one bright morning, you
are committing murder—that is, if he/she succumbs. On the other hand, if you run your
victim down—quite accidentally—with your car, bicycle, or wheelchair, with no intent to
kill, you will be accused of manslaughter—that is, if death results and if you can prove you

didn’t really mean it. It’s all rather delicate, however, and you might do best to put
thoughts of justifiable homicide out of your mind. The adjective? __________________.

5. regicide (REJ′-Ə-sīd′)—the killing of one’s king, president, or other governing o cial.
Booth committed regicide when he assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Adjective? __________________.
Derivation: Latin rex, regis, king, plus -cide.

6 . uxoricide (uk-SAWR′-Ə-sīd′)—the killing of one’s wife. Adjective? __________________.

Derivation: Latin uxor, wife, plus -cide.

7 . mariticide (mƏ-RIT′-Ə-sīd′)—the killing of one’s husband. Adjective? __________________.
Derivation: Latin maritus, husband, plus -cide.

8. infanticide (in-FAN′-tƏ-sīd′)—the killing of a newborn child. Adjective? __________________.
Derivation: Latin infans, infantis, baby, plus -cide.

9. genocide (JEN′-Ə-sīd′)—the killing of a whole race or nation. This is a comparatively
new word, coined in 1944 by a UN o cial named Raphael Lemkin, to refer to the mass

murder of the Jews, Poles, etc. ordered by Hitler. Adjective? __________________. Derivation:
Greek genos, race, kind, plus -cide.

1 0 . parricide (PAIR′-Ə-sīd′)—the killing of either or both parents. Adjective?
__________________.
Lizzie Borden was accused of, and tried for, parricide in the 1890s, but was not convicted.
A bit of doggerel that was popular at the time, and, so I have been told, little girls jumped