Anyone who has looked at the news lately knows that the human species seems to have an inordinate propensity for killing things. Similarly, anyone looking at this list of 85 terms relating to killing will quickly realize that humans also have an inordinate propensity for making up words about killing things. All of these words end in 'cide', from Latin caedere, to kill. However, some of them refer exclusively to the act of killing a specific thing (e.g. herbicide) while others can refer alternately to the act itself or to the person performing the act (e.g. homicide). Of all of these, though, perhaps the greatest crime of all is verbicide, the brutal slaughter of our language by incompetents and ignoramuses. Will the atrocities never end? Also check out my list of fighting words - those ending in "machy".

I hope you have found this site to be useful. If you have any corrections, additions, or comments, please contact me. Please note that I am not able to respond to all requests. Please consult a major dictionary before e-mailing your query. All material on this page © 2007 Stephen Chrisomalis. Links to this page may be made without permission.