List of types of killing
Appearance
In the English language, terms for types of killing often end in the suffix -cide.
Killing of self
[edit]- Suicide, intentionally causing one's own death.
- Altruistic suicide, suicide for the benefit of others.
- Autocide, suicide by automobile collision.
- Medicide, a suicide accomplished with the aid of a physician.
- Murder-suicide, a suicide committed immediately after one or more murders.
- Self-immolation, suicide by fire, often as a form of protest.
- Suicide by cop, acting in a threatening manner so as to provoke a lethal response from law enforcement.
Killing of other people
[edit]All of these are considered types of homicide.
Killing of family
[edit]- Avunculicide – the act of killing an uncle (Latin: avunculus "(maternal) uncle").
- Familicide – is a multiple-victim homicide where a killer's spouse and children are slain (Latin: familia "family").
- Filicide – the act of a parent killing their child (Latin: filius "son" and Latin: filia "daughter").
- Fratricide – the act of killing a brother (Latin: frater "brother"); also, in military context, death by friendly fire.
- Geronticide – 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 – the act of killing a child within the first year of their life.
- Mariticide – the act of killing one's husband (Latin: maritus "husband").
- Matricide – the act of killing one's mother (Latin: mater "mother").
- Neonaticide – 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 or parenticide – the killing of one's mother, father, or other close relative.
- Patricide – the act of killing of one's father (Latin: pater "father").
- Prolicide – the act of killing one's own children.
- Senicide – the killing of one's elderly family members when they can no longer work or they have become a burden (Latin: 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 (Latin: soror "sister").
- Uxoricide – the act of killing one's wife (Latin: uxor "wife").
Killing of others
[edit]- Amicicide – the act of killing a friend (Latin: amicus "friend").
- Androcide – the systematic killing of men.
- Assassination – the act of killing a prominent person for either political, religious, or monetary reasons.
- Capital punishment – the judicial killing of a human being for crimes.
- Casualty – death (or injury) in wartime.
- Collateral damage – Incidental killing of persons during a military attack that were not the object of attack.
- Democide or populicide – the murder of any person or people by a government.
- Extrajudicial killing – killing by government forces without due process. See also Targeted killing.
- Euthanasia 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 Latin: familiaris "of a household"; in commutatione eius "in exchange for"; and possessio "a possession or property").
- Femicide, gynecide, gynaecide, or gynocide – the systematic killing of women.
- Feticide – the killing of an embryo or fetus.
- Fragging - the act of killing a fellow soldier.
- Gendercide – the systematic killing of members of a specific sex or gender.
- Genocide – the systematic extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group.
- Homicide – the act of killing of a person (Latin: homo "man").
- Justifiable homicide – a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide).
- Human sacrifice – the killing of a human for sacrificial, often religious, reasons.
- Massacre, mass murder or spree killing – the killing of many people.
- Murder – the malicious and unlawful killing of a human by another human.
- Manslaughter – murder, but under legally mitigating circumstances.
- Meretricide - the act of killing a sex worker; typically female, but can apply to other genders. From latin merēre, meaning "to gain".
- Omnicide – the act of killing all humans, to create intentional extinction of the human species (Latin: omni "all, everyone").
- Pedicide – the act of killing children.
- Senicide or geronticide – the act of killing an elderly person.
- Targeted killing – a form of assassination which is carried out by governments against their perceived enemies. See also Extrajudicial killing.
- Vaticide - the murder of a prophet.
- Xenocide – the genocide of an entire alien species. Often used in science fiction, one famous example being the novel Xenocide by Orson Scott Card.
- Mundicide – the genocide of an entire planet or similar celestial object. Various degrees of mundicide occur throughout the universe, caused by such things as supernovas, or in the realm of science-fiction; The Dark Forest theory . An idea popularized by Chinese author, Cixin Liu
Killing of superiors
[edit]- Deicide – killing a god, divine being, or deity.
- Papicide – killing of a pope (Ancient Greek: πάππας (páppas) "father").[1]
- Regicide – killing a ruler, a King/Queen (Latin: rex, gen. regis "king").
- Tyrannicide – killing a tyrant.
- Magnicide – killing a major political figure.[2]
Killing of animals, disease, and pests
[edit]- Algaecide – a chemical agent that kills algae.
- Acaricide – a chemical agent that kills mites.
- Avicide – a chemical agent that kills birds.
- Bactericide – a chemical agent that kills bacteria.
- Biocide – a chemical agent that kills a broad spectrum of living organisms.
- Fungicide – 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 – an agent that kills unwanted plants, a weed killer.
- Insecticide – an agent that kills unwanted insects.
- Larvicide (also larvacide) – an insecticide targeted against the larval life stage of an insect.
- Microbicide – 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 – a general term to describe an agent used to destroy parasites.
- Pediculicide – an agent that kills head lice.
- Pesticide – a general term to describe an agent used to destroy or repel a pest.
- Rodenticide - 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 (also taeniacide, tenicide) – a chemical agent that kills tape worms.
- Theriocide – the act of killing an animal by a human (Ancient Greek: therion "wild animal, beast").
- Vermicide – 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
[edit]- Ecocide – the destruction of the natural environment by such activity as war, overexploitation of resources, or pollution.
- Famacide, defamation, 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 (mundus is Latin for "world").
- Urbicide – the destruction of a city or the stifling of urbanisation (urbs is Latin for "city").
See also
[edit]- Letting die
- Manner of death, a classification made after autopsy
References
[edit]- ^ https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsEurope/ItalyPopes.htm Papicide is used to describe Lord Matteo of Milan's charge of the attempted assassination of Pope John XXII
- ^ "magnicide", Wiktionary, the free dictionary, 2023-06-13, retrieved 2024-02-07
External links
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Look up -cide in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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Look up Category:English words suffixed with -cide in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.