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

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