genocide

American  

[jen-uh-sahyd] / ˈdʒɛn əˌsaɪd /

noun

• genocides
  plural

1. the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.

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genocide British  

/ ˈdʒɛnəʊˌsaɪd /

noun

1. the policy of deliberately killing a nationality or ethnic group

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genocide Cultural  

1. The deliberate destruction of an entire race or nation. The Holocaust conducted by the Nazis in Germany and the Rwandan genocide are examples of attempts at genocide.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• genocidal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• genocides
  plural

Etymology

Origin of genocide

First recorded in 1940–45; from Greek géno(s) “race” + -cide

Compare meaning

How does genocide compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• ethnic cleansing vs. genocide

Explanation

Genocide refers to the systematic destruction of a race or cultural group. In the Rwandan genocide of 1994, members of one ethnic group, the Hutus, killed some 850,000 Tutsis in an attempt to wipe them out completely. Genocide was coined in 1944 by a Polish-Jewish scholar named Raphael Lemkin in response to the Holocaust. In 1948, the United Nations defined genocide as any of several acts (including murder) "committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group..."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

genocide genocides

The European origin of the hypothesis has been used to blame Europe in part for the Rwandan genocide, a position held by anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani, whose son is mayor of New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

The pair stood trial in Germany because of the legal principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows prosecutions for alleged war crimes, including genocide, occurring overseas.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Established in 2002, the ICC prosecutes individuals accused of the gravest atrocities, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026

“She’s still basically on a hero’s journey wanting to get justice for what happened to Remy and for the genocide that she witnessed and that she is a survivor of,” Zann says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Europe's defenders argue that the mass deaths cannot be described as genocide.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

They say going to abandoned nuclear plants or countries where genocides took place is a way to understand the harsh realities of current political turmoil, climate calamities, war and the growing threat of authoritarianism.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 29, 2022

There have always been monuments to commemorate the loss of life from calamitous events: wars, genocides, terrorist attacks.

From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2022

Kim, 47, knew that anyone there of his age or older had survived one of the most brutal genocides of the 20th century.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2022

The two genocides of the 1990s - in central Africa and the former Yugoslavia - showed what happened when the Security Council was challenged to live up to words of the UN charter.

From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2022

She said a local gallery in Rochester, called the Visual Studies Workshop, had been showing photography from genocides around the world, and perhaps we could do an exhibit there.

From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

Related Words

• carnage
• mass murder
• massacre
• slaughter