genocide

[jen-uh-sahyd]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR genocide ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

Nearby words

Origin of genocide

1940–45; < Greek géno(s) race + -cide

Related formsgen·o·cid·al, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for genocide

He was referring to the genocide of Muslims during the Bosnian War.
When Countries Lose Their Shit Over American Movies|Asawin Suebsaeng|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To get a resolution about genocide passed, he devised a letter-writing campaign.
The Man Who Invented the Word ‘Genocide’|Nina Strochlic|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
By WWII, Lemkin had been peddling his ideas on genocide for more than a decade.
The Man Who Invented the Word ‘Genocide’|Nina Strochlic|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Raphael Lemkin was, by all accounts, obsessed with genocide long before he invented a name for it.
The Man Who Invented the Word ‘Genocide’|Nina Strochlic|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Is it the one where we condemn the genocide of Native Americans?
Are Politicians Too Dumb to Understand the Lyrics to ‘Born in the USA’?|Parker Molloy|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The mystery of our failure at genocide forced an unpleasant decision on Benson.
The Test Colony|Winston Marks
Nuclear nightmares intermingled with Armenian and Jewish flashbacks of genocide.
After the Rain|Sam Vaknin
Genocide is defined as the extermination of a race of sapient beings.
Little Fuzzy|Henry Beam Piper
In a chance encounter with angry Serb mobs in the streets of Pristina he accused the Albanians of genocide.
After the Rain|Sam Vaknin
He didn't want to be accused of genocide, since the Lani were so human in appearance.
The Lani People|J. F. Bone

British Dictionary definitions for genocide

genocide

noun

the policy of deliberately killing a nationality or ethnic group

Derived Formsgenocidal, adjective

Word Origin for genocide

C20: from geno-, from Greek genos race + -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 genocide

genocide

1944, apparently coined by Polish-born U.S. jurist Raphael Lemkin (1900-1959) in his work "Axis Rule in Occupied Europe" [p.19], in reference to Nazi extermination of Jews, literally "killing a tribe," from Greek genos "race, kind" (see genus) + -cide. The proper formation would be *genticide.

Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aimed at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. [Lemkin]

Earlier in a similar sense was populicide (1799), from French populicide, by 1792, a word from the Revolution. This was taken into German, e.g. Völkermeuchelnden "genocidal" (Heine), which was Englished 1893 as folk-murdering.

Culture definitions for genocide

genocide

[(jen-uh-seyed)]

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.

genocide

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of genocide

Examples from the Web for genocide

genocide

noun

Word Origin for genocide

genocide

genocide