Etymology: < (i) French -cide and its etymon (ii) classical Latin -cīda cutter, killer, slayer (in e.g. homicīda , parricīda , mātricīda , frātricīda , sorōricīda , tyrannicīda , etc., slayer of a man, father, mother, brother, sister, tyrant, etc.; also lapicīda , stone-cutter, etc.) < caedere (in compounds -cīdere ) to cut, kill (see caesura n.). Compare -cide comb. form².Most of the Latin words having the sense ‘slayer, murderer’, passed (frequently via French) into English, e.g. fratricide n.¹, homicide n.² and adj. (late Middle English), matricide n.¹ and parricide n.¹ (16th century). From the 16th century onwards, new formations have also been made on Latin first elements, notably regicide n.¹ and suicide n.² and adj. Many more occasional forms have been used, e.g. canicide n., ceticide n., perdricide adj., vaticide n.¹, verbicide n.² Humorous formations on English first elements are found from the late 18th cent., e.g. prenticecide n., suitorcide adj., etc.

Etymology: < (i) French -cide and its etymon (ii) classical Latin -cīdium cutting, killing (in e.g. homicīdium , parricīdium , mātricīdium , etc., frequently corresponding to nouns in -cīda denoting the agent; also sometimes independently as in post-classical Latin bovicidium slaughter of oxen, etc.) < -cīda -cide comb. form¹ + -ium (see -y suffix⁴).Most of the Latin words having the sense ‘slaying, murder’, passed (frequently via French) into English, e.g. homicide n.² (late Middle English), fratricide n.² and parricide n.² (16th century). From the 16th century onwards, new formations have also been made on Latin and Greek first elements, e.g. regicide n.², genocide n.