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Glite Dictionary
⚰️ Killing own child ⚰️ Parent who kills child
filicide

filicide

9.9
A parent who kills their own son or daughter
  • noun
  • /ˈfɪlɪˌsaɪd/
  • Offensive
: filicida
  • The crime of filicide is one of the most tragic.

Examples

  • A shocking case of filicide occurred last year.

  • In literature, filicide is sometimes portrayed as the ultimate form of tragedy.

  • Cases of filicide often prompt debates about mental health support for parents.

  • The court heard that the accused had committed filicide under extreme psychological distress.

  • The tragic case of a father charged with filicide shocked the local community.

  • Many experts believe that understanding the motives behind filicide can help prevent such tragedies.

  • Reports of filicide often highlight the psychological struggles faced by the perpetrators.

Surface Forms

filicide singular
filicides plural

Morphology

filicide = fili + cide

This is the same historical fili- + -cide formation; the agentive sense is a lexical extension, but the components are still not transparent to an average learner.

Etymology

Filicide used for a person comes from the same parts: fili- 'child' and -cide 'killing', like suicide meaning 'self-killing'. So a filicide is a parent who kills their own child.