parricide

[ par-uh-sahyd ]

noun

1. the act of killing one's father, mother, or other close relative.
2. a person who commits such an act.

parricide

/ ˈpærɪˌsaɪd /

noun

1. the act of killing either of one's parents
2. a person who kills his parent

Derived Forms

• ˌparriˈcidal, adjective

Other Words From

• parri·cidal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of parricide¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of parricide¹

C16: from Latin parricīdium murder of a parent or relative, and from parricīda one who murders a relative, from parri- (element related to Greek pēos kinsman) + -cīdium, -cīda -cide

Example Sentences

Indeed, Homo sapiens would be gone precisely because we avoided final extinction, as our successor is what murdered us — a technological case of parricide.

From Salon

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

There Oliverotto too was captured, a year after he committed his parricide, and together with Vittellozzo, who had been his teacher in his virtues and wickedness, he was strangled.

From Literature

Why would one woman commit mass parricide by poisoning 300 relatives, family friends, and herself at what should've been a joyous celebration?

From Salon

"It was like a Greek tragedy unfolding, and it ended like a Greek tragedy - in a symbolic parricide," says journalist Olivier Beaumont.

From BBC