Word
genocide
Phoneticsgeno·cide
US/ˈdʒɛnəˌsaɪd/
UK/dʒˈɛnəsˌaɪd/
Definitions
01systematic destruction of a group
n. the planned killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group.
n. the systematic and deliberate destruction of a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. Often used in legal and historical contexts to describe mass atrocities.
“The international court investigated whether the military had committed genocide against the minority group.”
“Historians continue to debate the specific criteria required to classify the mass killings as a genocide under international law.”
Formal
Usage
Often used with the verb 'commit' or 'accuse of'.
Synonyms
02destruction of culture
n. the act of destroying a group's culture, language, or way of life rather than killing the people themselves.
n. the systematic destruction of a group's cultural heritage, language, or social institutions; often referred to as cultural genocide.
“The forced closing of local schools was described by some as a form of cultural genocide.”
“The report argued that the systematic suppression of the native language constituted a genocide of the community's unique cultural identity.”
Academic · Formal
Teaching tip
This sense is often qualified with the adjective 'cultural' to distinguish it from physical mass killing.
Synonyms
03to commit genocide
v. to completely destroy or kill off a specific group of people.
v. to subject a group to genocide; to eliminate a population systematically. This transitive use is less common than the noun form.
“The dictator was accused of trying to genocide the ethnic minorities in the north.”
“The regime's ultimate goal was to genocide the opposition through a combination of forced famine and targeted executions.”
Formal · Technical
Usage
This is a transitive verb and requires a direct object.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“Little Bird’s six episodes examine the long shadow of this cultural genocide through one family.” “Ocasio-Cortez has described Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide” and last month voted to block US military aid to the country.” Etymology
Coined by lawyer of Polish-Jewish descent Raphael Lemkin in 1943 or 1944 in reference to the Armenian Genocide (then known by other names; see: Terminology of the Armenian genocide), massacres of Assyrians (such as the Simele massacre and Seyfo) and the Jewish Holocaust. From the stem of Ancient Greek γένος (génos, “race, kind”) (cognate with Latin gēns (“tribe, clan”), whence genus), corresponding to geno- + -cide (“killing, killer”). Piecewise doublet of gendercide. Compare genticide.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/genocide