ENGLISH
REFERENCE

genocide

n. · v.
US //ˈdʒɛnəˌsaɪd// UK //dʒˈɛnəsˌaɪd// geno·cide
  1. 1 systematic destruction of a group (n.)
    C1 Advanced Formal Law

    the planned killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group.

    the systematic and deliberate destruction of a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. Often used in legal and historical contexts to describe mass atrocities.

    Example

    The international court investigated whether the military had committed genocide against the minority group.

    Example

    Historians continue to debate the specific criteria required to classify the mass killings as a genocide under international law.

    Usage

    Often used with the verb 'commit' or 'accuse of'.
  2. 2 destruction of culture (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Academic Formal

    the act of destroying a group's culture, language, or way of life rather than killing the people themselves.

    the systematic destruction of a group's cultural heritage, language, or social institutions; often referred to as cultural genocide.

    Example

    The forced closing of local schools was described by some as a form of cultural genocide.

    Example

    The report argued that the systematic suppression of the native language constituted a genocide of the community's unique cultural identity.

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is often qualified with the adjective 'cultural' to distinguish it from physical mass killing.
    • culturicide
  3. 3 to commit genocide (v.)
    C2 Proficiency Formal Technical

    to completely destroy or kill off a specific group of people.

    to subject a group to genocide; to eliminate a population systematically. This transitive use is less common than the noun form.

    Example

    The dictator was accused of trying to genocide the ethnic minorities in the north.

    Example

    The regime's ultimate goal was to genocide the opposition through a combination of forced famine and targeted executions.

    Usage

    This is a transitive verb and requires a direct object.
Origin

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

Last updated June 20, 2026