filicide

noun

fil·​i·​cide ˈfi-lə-ˌsīd How to pronounce filicide (audio)
: the murder of one's own daughter or son

Examples of filicide in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
One study of maternal filicide observed that, whereas psychotic mothers often acted suddenly, depressed mothers tended to contemplate killing their children for days or weeks before acting. Eren Orbey, The New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2024 Each was a tragedy, but maternal filicide falls low on the register of reasons for infant death. Maria Laurino, The New Republic, 29 June 2023 In Massachusetts, a horrific case of filicide has reawakened difficult talks about postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, which are known to be under-diagnosed and under-treated in women who recently gave birth. Andrea Marks, Rolling Stone, 22 Mar. 2023 Podcasters, reporters and TV producers rushed to South Carolina to tell a Shakespearean story of filicide, anchored by a main character whose button-down shirts seem to cover a terrifying moral void. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2023 Supplementary Homicide Reports in 2014 to determine that filicide – a parent’s act of killing his or her child or children – occurs on average 500 times per year in the United States. Fox News, 21 Oct. 2022 Crimes of the Future Rated R for filicide, surgeries and power-drill violence. New York Times, 2 June 2022 But most filicides are considered altruistic killing. Bree Burkitt, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2020 Oberman, who wrote two books on the subject of filicide, said many of the women who commit those murders are often isolated in their motherhood and have mental health issues or previous trauma. Bree Burkitt, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Latin filius son & filia daughter + English -cide

First Known Use

1665, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of filicide was in 1665

Dictionary Entries Near filicide

Cite this Entry

“Filicide.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/filicide. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on filicide

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!