homicide
Americannoun
-
the killing of a human being by another person
-
a person who kills another
Other Word Forms
- self-homicide noun
Etymology
Origin of homicide
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin homicīdium “a killing,” homicīda “killer,” equivalent to homi- (combining form of homō “man”) + -cīdium, -cīda, noun suffix; -cide
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.
The homicide investigation by Horry County police is now under scrutiny by a special prosecutor, and a state grand jury is reviewing evidence of alleged police misconduct.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026
So while soccer is part of the book’s narrative, the memoir is as much about the sport as “To Kill a Mockingbird” is about avian homicide.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026
The decline in Venezuela’s homicide rate from 2016 to 2023, the last year for which data is available, according to the Caracas policy group Venezuelan Observatory on Violence.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
Estimated U.S. homicide rate per 100,000 people in 2025, down 20% from 2024, below 2014’s recent low.
From Barron's • Mar. 21, 2026
In the federal system, for example, homicide convictions account for 0.4 percent of the past decade’s growth in the federal prison population, while drug convictions account for nearly 61 percent of that expansion.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
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.
