fratricide

American  

[fra-tri-sahyd] / ˈfræ trɪˌsaɪd /

noun

1. the act of killing one's brother or a member of one’s own tribe or group.

2. a person who kills their brother or a member of their own tribe or group.

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fratricide British  

/ ˈfreɪ-, ˈfrætrɪˌsaɪd /

noun

1. the act of killing one's brother

2. a person who kills his brother

3. military the destruction of or interference with a nuclear missile before it can strike its target caused by the earlier explosion of a warhead at a nearby target

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Other Word Forms

• fratricidal adjective

Etymology

Origin of fratricide

First recorded in 1490–1500; fratricide ( def. 1 ) from Middle French, from Late Latin frātricīdium, equivalent to frātricīd(a) frātri- (combining form of frāter ) brother + -cīda -cide + -ium noun suffix; fratricide ( def. 2 ) from Middle French, from frātricīda

Example Sentences

Now, as Mr. Putin scrambles to put down a rebellion that he warned on Saturday could lead to “anarchy and fratricide,” Mr. Prigozhin looms as the Russian president’s own creation.

From New York Times

Indeed, the Forbes critic called this fratricide scene "a totally pointless subplot that achieves nothing and only serves to confuse us in the end."

From Salon

The hope peddlers and professional centrists are promoting a dream-narrative about a Republican civil war and descent into chaos and fratricide.

From Salon

Can conservative energies be turned away from fratricide and lib-baiting and used to rebuild the structures and institutions and habits whose decline has pushed the right toward crisis?

From New York Times

“Today, however, we reaffirm our conviction that fraternity is more durable than fratricide, that hope is more powerful than hatred, that peace more powerful than war.”

From Reuters