genocide
Americannoun
-
genocides
plural
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.
See Examples For:
The BBC's North America correspondent Ione Wells explains what role the US has played in the claim of a genocide.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
I’m not entirely convinced that the term genocide, coined in 1944, properly applies to more than one crime in history, the Holocaust, but Myanmar’s campaign against the Rohingyas might qualify to a reasonable person.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
A 65-year-old doctor has appeared in court, the first person in the UK to be charged over the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.
From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026
“But as Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine, and violent occupation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
This girl has a paper on genocide to write and last week’s Trig problems, and a catch-up test about literary devices in some stupid story.
From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
It also commemorates the millions of people outside the Jewish faith who were murdered through Nazi persecution, and those targeted in more recent genocides.
From BBC ● Jan. 27, 2026
Kavazović and Rosensaft committed to collaborate in times of crisis, maintain consistent and compassionate channels of communication, remember and commemorate the victims of past genocides and repudiate all forms of bigotry.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2024
Monuments have long commemorated the loss of life from calamitous events: wars, genocides, terrorist attacks.
From New York Times ● Aug. 11, 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
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
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.
