internecine

[in-ter-nee-seen, -sahyn, -nes-een, -nes-ahyn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR internecine ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of or relating to conflict or struggle within a group: an internecine feud among proxy holders.

mutually destructive.

characterized by great slaughter; deadly.

Also in·ter·ne·cive

[in-ter-nee-siv, -nes-iv] /ˌɪn tɛrˈni sɪv, -ˈnɛs ɪv/.

Origin of internecine

1655–65; < Latin internecīnus, internecīvus murderous, equivalent to internec(āre) to kill out, exterminate (inter- inter- + necāre to kill) + -īnus -ine¹, -īvus -ive

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

Related Words for internecine

civil, domestic, internal, fratricidal, deadly, exterminatory

Examples from the Web for internecine

Contemporary Examples of internecine

And much of the reported violence is internecine warfare between Christians and Muslims, with atrocities on all sides.
State Department Highlights Actual Oppression Against Christians
Jay Michaelson
July 28, 2014
ISIS has been at the root of the internecine warfare between Syrian rebel groups.
Al-Qaeda Denounces Syrian Jihadist Group ISIS
Jamie Dettmer
February 3, 2014
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 War
David Freedlander
December 11, 2013
She is even-handed in detailing the internecine battles between Insurgents and Regulars for control of the party.
Wait for the Movie Version of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “The Bully Pulpit”
David Nasaw
November 12, 2013
They blamed the Americans for the internecine struggle that broke out among competing Afghan political parties afterward.
9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Finally on Trial at Guantanamo
Terry McDermott
May 4, 2012

Historical Examples of internecine

Internecine destruction probably has a meaning we can only guess at.
The Conquest of Fear
Basil King
They would have been led on by internecine warfare to mutual destruction.
The Last Voyage
Lady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey
I will not believe that we stand to-day in danger of internecine war!
The Long Roll
Mary Johnston
The key is, no doubt, to be found in the internecine jealousies of the sections.
A History of the United States
Cecil Chesterton
He was one internecine battle, and he became cruel to her because of it.
Sons and Lovers
David Herbert Lawrence

British Dictionary definitions for internecine

internecine

adjective

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

Word Origin for internecine

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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."