internecine
[in-ter-nee-seen, -sahyn, -nes-een, -nes-ahyn]
- of or relating to conflict or struggle within a group: an internecine feud among proxy holders.
- mutually destructive.
- characterized by great slaughter; deadly.
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Also in·ter·ne·cive [in-ter-nee-siv, -nes-iv] /ˌɪn tɛrˈni sɪv, -ˈnɛs ɪv/.
Origin of internecine
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for internecine
Contemporary Examples
And much of the reported violence is internecine warfare between Christians and Muslims, with atrocities on all sides.
ISIS has been at the root of the internecine warfare between Syrian rebel groups.
Democrats are unlikely to face the internecine battles the Republican Party has endured over the last five years.
It’s DINO Hunting Season as the Democrats Gird for Their Own Civil WarDavid Freedlander
December 11, 2013
She is even-handed in detailing the internecine battles between Insurgents and Regulars for control of the party.
They blamed the Americans for the internecine struggle that broke out among competing Afghan political parties afterward.
Historical Examples
Internecine destruction probably has a meaning we can only guess at.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
They would have been led on by internecine warfare to mutual destruction.
The Last VoyageLady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey
I will not believe that we stand to-day in danger of internecine war!
The Long RollMary Johnston
The key is, no doubt, to be found in the internecine jealousies of the sections.
A History of the United StatesCecil Chesterton
He was one internecine battle, and he became cruel to her because of it.
Sons and LoversDavid Herbert Lawrence
internecine
- mutually destructive or ruinous; maiming both or all sidesinternecine war
- of or relating to slaughter or carnage; bloody
- of or involving conflict within a group or organization
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin internecīnus, from internecāre to destroy, from necāre to kill
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for internecine
adj.
1660s, "deadly, destructive," from Latin internecinus "very deadly, murderous, destructive," from internecare "kill or destroy," from inter (see inter-) + necare "kill" (see noxious). Considered in the OED as misinterpreted in Johnson's Dictionary [1755], which defined it as "endeavouring mutual destruction," on association of inter- with "mutual" when the prefix supposedly is used in this case as an intensive. From Johnson, wrongly or not, has come the main modern definition of "mutually destructive."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper