genocide
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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:
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..."
Vocabulary lists containing genocide
Frankenwords: Words with Roots from Different Languages
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Human Geography - High School
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President Trump's Second State of the Union Address (2019)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One consistent narrative, however, even 250 years in, is our country’s inability to reckon with the genocide of Indigenous people that kicked the whole thing off.
From Slate • Jul. 3, 2026
"I have survived genocide, stigmatization and relentless persecution. And here I am, still standing," he said during the campaign.
From Barron's • May 25, 2026
He, like Karasira, was a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and critic of the ruling RPF party.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
The diplomatic dispute arises from the ambiguous role that Rwanda, best known to many Americans for the 1994 genocide, now plays as a regional strongman.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026
Are we going to travel back in time and prevent genocide, world wars, the atomic bomb?
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
