homicide
Americannoun
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homicides
plural
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the killing of one human being by another.
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a person who kills another; murderer.
noun
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the killing of a human being by another person
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a person who kills another
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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; see -cide
Explanation
The noun homicide means a murder. If you kill another person, you are committing a homicide. The level of the homicide is legally defined as murder if the act was intentional and as manslaughter if it was unintentional. Remember the meaning of homicide by remembering that cide, from the Latin cida, refers to killing, while the Latin homo means "man.” So homicide means “killing a man.” You can see another example in this quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes: “Life and language are alike sacred. Homicide and verbicide — that is, violent treatment of a word with fatal results to its legitimate meaning, which is its life — are alike forbidden.”
Vocabulary lists containing homicide
Tears of a Tiger
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Latin Love, Vol II: cadere
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And Then There Were None
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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 officers failed to class Carmenza's death as a murder and did not pass it to a homicide team for a fuller investigation, as happens with suspected homicides.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
In July, Nanos promoted Stivers, the lead homicide detective on the case, to lieutenant, which will take effect in September, according to people familiar with the matter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Officers responding to a missing persons call at Nancy Guthrie’s house on Feb. 1 called in the homicide unit, headed by Sgt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
In 2023, the Riverside County district attorney’s office achieved a guilty verdict in the state’s first fentanyl-related homicide jury trial, which also resulted in a sentence of 15 years to life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
His father had been a robbery detective in Cleveland, Ohio, and his older brother was a homicide detective in Fort Lauderdale—and a detective is what David Delinko fervidly wanted to be, someday.
From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen
Police told Colorado Public Radio they had no record of any unsolved homicides from that time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
None of the agencies I contacted for this story replied to my inquiries about the status of the investigations—which, as with all unsolved homicides, officially remain open.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
She also signaled openness to a change of venue from Colleton County, where the homicides occurred.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
This issue, along with rising homicides, is why insecurity and crime have become top concerns for voters in Sunday's presidential election in Peru.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
Duntz agrees with him; having studied the files on unsolved Las Vegas homicides, he knows Smith to be innocent of this particular deed.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
