parricide

American  

[par-uh-sahyd] / ˈpær əˌsaɪd /

noun

1. the act of killing one's father, mother, or other close relative.

2. a person who commits such an act.

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parricide British  

/ ˈpærɪˌsaɪd /

noun

1. the act of killing either of one's parents

2. a person who kills his parent

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Other Word Forms

• parricidal adjective

Etymology

Origin of parricide

1545–55; < Latin parricīdum act of kin-murder, parricīda kin-killer, equivalent to pāri- (akin to Greek pāós, Attic pēós kinsman) + -cīdum, -cida -cide

Explanation

If a character in a novel kills one of her own parents, it's called parricide. Your dad will be impressed by your vocabulary skills if you say mid-argument, "I'm so mad at you I could commit parricide!" You can use the word parricide for the crime of murdering a mother or father, but it also means "one who kills their own parent." Historically, people who kill parental figures (like kings, for example) have also been charged with parricide. Parricide features as an important plot point in many books, ranging from "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" to "The Brothers Karamazov." Parricide combines Latin roots parus, "relative" and cida, "killer."

Example Sentences

Comedy is especially susceptible to generational change and bias; although young comics often cite older ones as inspirations, and a few giants remain funny across the decades, the art survives by parricide.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2022

In the myth of Oedipus, he argued, accusations against him of parricide and then incest with his mother united his enemies in Thebes.

From New York Times • Nov. 10, 2015

In the case of juvenile parricide, there is an added paradox.

From New York Times • Jul. 19, 2012

Raymond plays Christy Mahon, the dreamy wanderer whose bloody tale of parricide bewitches every hearer on that lonely and scandal-starved strand.

From Time Magazine Archive

But he wasn’t afraid to say it: my callousness inspired in him a horror nearly greater than that which he felt at the crime of parricide.

From "The Stranger" by Albert Camus