genocide

Definitions

geno- (a race, people, from Greek genos) + cide (killing) = the killing of a whole people. It is a deliberately coined modern word (1944, by jurist Raphael Lemkin) built from the same machine as homicide and suicide — but here the 'victim' at the front is an entire group, not one person.

Why It Means This

Genocide is one of the youngest words in this family. After the horrors of the Second World War, jurist Raphael Lemkin needed a word for the systematic destruction of a people, and built one the Latin way: Greek genos ('race, kind') + Latin -cide ('killing'). It entered international law almost immediately. The -cide machine had been making killer-words for centuries; Lemkin simply fed it a new, terrible victim.

Common Collocations

• 1.commit genocide实施种族灭绝
• 2.prevent genocide防止种族灭绝
• 3.act of genocide种族灭绝行为
• 4.victims of genocide种族灭绝的受害者

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The tribunal was set up to prosecute those responsible for the genocide.

• 2.

  The international community vowed to prevent future genocide.