List of types of killing
In the English language, terms for types of killing often end in the suffix -cide.
Killing of self
- Suicide, intentional killing of your self
- * Autocide, suicide by automobile
- * Medicide, a suicide accomplished with the aid of a physician
- * Murder-suicide, a suicide committed immediately after one or more murders
- * Self-immolation, suicide as a form of protest, often by fire
- * Suicide by cop, acting in a threatening manner so as to provoke a lethal response from law enforcement
Killing of other people
Killing of family
- Avunculicide – the act of killing an uncle.
- Familicide – is a multiple-victim homicide where a killer's spouse and children are slain.
- Filicide – the act of a parent killing their child.
- Fratricide – the act of killing a brother ; also, in military context, death by friendly fire.
- Geronticide – the abandonment of the elderly to die, die by suicide or be killed.
- Honour killing – the act of murdering a family member perceived to have brought disgrace to the family.
- Infanticide – the act of killing a child within the first year of its life.
- Mariticide – the act of killing one's husband.
- Matricide – the act of killing one's mother.
- Neonaticide – the act of killing an infant within the first twenty-four hours or month of its life.
- Nepoticide – the act of killing one's nephew.
- Parricide or parenticide – the killing of one's mother, father, or other close relative.
- Patricide – the act of killing of one's father.
- Pedicide – the act of killing a child.
- Prolicide – the act of killing one's own children.
- Senicide – the killing of one's elderly family members when they can no longer work or become a burden.
- Siblicide – the killing of an infant individual by its close relatives.
- Sororicide – the act of killing one's sister.
- Uxoricide – the act of killing one's wife.
Killing of others
- Amicicide – the act of killing a friend
- Androcide – the systematic killing of men.
- Assassination – the act of killing a prominent person for either political, religious, or monetary reasons.
- Capital punishment – the judicial killing of a human being for crimes.
- Casualty – death in wartime.
- Collateral damage – deaths during wartime due to imprecise or incorrect targeting or friendly fire.
- Democide or populicide – the murder of any person or people by a government.
- Ecocide – the destruction of the natural environment by such activity as war, overexploitation of resources, or pollution.
- Extrajudicial killing – killing by government forces without due process. See also Targeted killing.
- Euthanasia or mercy killing – the killing of any being for compassionate reasons; e.g., significant injury or disease.
- Familiaricide in commutatione eius possessio – the act of killing a family for their property and/or possessions.
- Femicide, gynecide, gynaecide, or gynocide – the systematic killing of women.
- Feticide – the act of killing a fetus.
- Gendercide – the systematic killing of members of a specific sex or gender.
- Genocide – the systematic extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group.
- Homicide – the act of killing of a person.
- Justifiable homicide - a defense to culpable homicide
- Human sacrifice – the killing of a human for sacrificial, often religious, reasons.
- Massacre or mass murder – the killing of many people.
- Murder – the malicious and unlawful killing of a human by another human.
- Manslaughter – murder, but under legally mitigating circumstances.
- Omnicide – the act of killing all humans, to create intentional extinction of the human species.
- Targeted killing – a form of assassination which is carried out by governments against their perceived enemies. See also Extrajudicial killing.
- Xenocide – the genocide of an entire alien species. Often used in science fiction, one famous example being the novel "Xenocide" by Orson Scott Card.
Killing of superiors
- Deicide – killing a god or divine being.
- Episcopicide – killing a bishop.
- Regicide – killing a ruler, a King/Queen.
- Tyrannicide – killing a tyrant.
Killing of animals, disease, and pests
- Algaecide – a chemical agent that kills algae
- Acaricide – a chemical agent that kills mites
- Avicide – a chemical agent that kills birds
- Bactericide – a chemical agent that kills bacteria.
- Biocide – a chemical agent that kills a broad spectrum of living organisms.
- Fungicide – chemical agents or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores.
- Germicide – an agent that kills germs, especially pathogenic microorganisms; a disinfectant
- Herbicide – an agent that kills unwanted plants, a weed killer.
- Insecticide – an agent that kills unwanted insects.
- Larvicide – an insecticide targeted against the larval life stage of an insect.
- Microbicide – an agent used to kill or reduce the infectiousness of microorganisms.
- Miticide – a chemical to kill mites.
- Nemacide – a chemical to eradicate or kill nematodes.
- Parasiticide – a general term to describe an agent used to destroy parasites.
- Pediculicide – an agent that kills head lice.
- Pesticide – a general term to describe an agent used to destroy or repel a pest.
- Scabicide – a chemical agent for killing scabies.
- Spermicide – a contraceptive agent to render sperm inert and prevent fertilization.
- Teniacide – a chemical agent that kills tape worms.
- Theriocide - the act of killing sentient animals, especially mammals
- Vermicide – an agent used to kill parasitic intestinal worms.
- Virucide – an agent capable of destroying or inhibiting viruses.
- Vulpicide – the killing of a fox by methods other than by hunting it with hounds.
Killing of intangibles
- Famacide, defamation or slander, the killing of another's reputation
- Linguicide, intentionally causing the death of a language
- Urbicide, the destruction of a city or the stifling of urbanisation