fratricide

[fra-tri-sahyd, frey-]

noun

a person who kills his or her brother.

the act of killing one's brother.

Origin of fratricide

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

Related formsfrat·ri·cid·al, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fratricide

Contemporary Examples of fratricide

Hillary Rodham Clinton must be reveling in the latest round of Republican fratricide.
How to Beat Hillary: End the Republican Fratricide
Lloyd Green
August 5, 2013

Historical Examples of fratricide

For she, like her father and all the Borgias, firmly believed that Cæsar was a fratricide.
Lucretia Borgia
Ferdinand Gregorovius
Absolution to any parricide, matricide, or fratricide, for three ducats.
Faustus
Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger
The fratricide also is said by some to have been committed in this place.
Early Travels in Palestine
Arculf et al.
But what can be expected from the descendants of the fratricide Romulus?
The Holy Roman Empire
James Bryce
And the history of human wo begins with Cain the fratricide.
Wanderings in Corsica, Vol. 1 of 2
Ferdinand Gregorovius

British Dictionary definitions for fratricide

fratricide

noun

the act of killing one's brother

a person who kills his brother

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

Derived Formsfratricidal, adjective

Word Origin for fratricide

C15: from Latin frātricīda; see frater 1, -cide

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fratricide

mid-15c., "person who kills a brother;" 1560s, "act of killing a brother," from Latin fratricida "brother-slayer," from frater "brother" (see brother) + cida "killer," or cidum "a killing," both from caedere "to kill, to cut down" (see -cide). Among several Old English words for this were broðorbana "one who kills a brother;" broðorcwealm "act of killing a brother."