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Glite Dictionary
honor killing

honor killing

10 8.6
The killing of a family member, often a woman or girl, by relatives who think she brought shame
  • noun
  • /ˈɑːnər ˈkɪlɪŋ/
  • Offensive
translation icon : crimen de honor
  • In many cultures, an honor killing may occur when a woman is perceived to have dishonored her family.
  • honor killing murder
  • honor killings in which women

Examples

  • All of these honor killings took place between 1989 and 2013.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Between 1989 and 2009, honor killings also escalated over time in a statistically significant way.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Thus, wherever an honor killing is committed, it is primarily a crime against young people.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Clearly, these characteristics define the classic honor killing of younger women and girls.

    Academic text (2010)

  • I wanted to ask what is the prevalence of honor killing in Egypt?

  • Speaker, Albania has one of the highest rates of honour killing in Europe.

  • To combat the epidemic of honor killings requires understanding what makes these murders unique.

    Academic text (2010)

  • The authors concluded that "women's gossip creates the climate in which the honor killing of a young woman is inevitable."

    Academic text (2015)

  • Honor killing is not an isolated phenomenon; the United Nations estimates that 5,000 honor killings occur each year worldwide.

    Academic text (2010)

  • The study's findings indicate that honor killings accelerated significantly in a 20-year period between 1989 and 2009.

    Academic text (2010)

Synonyms

murder
vshonor killing
  • NSFW
∞ 1.6

An illegal killing of one person by another

is a killing by relatives because they think the victim brought shame
homicide
vshonor killing
  • NSFW
914 6.1

The killing of one person by another

is used for killings by relatives motivated by belief the victim shamed the family
slaying
vshonor killing
  • NSFW
30 7.4

An illegal killing of a person planned in advance

is a killing by relatives as punishment for perceived family shame

Surface Forms

honor killing singular
honor killings plural

Morphology

honor + killing

The phrase is compositionally interpretable as a killing motivated by concerns about 'honor', so a B1 learner who knows both words will likely guess it involves killing linked to reputation or chastity. However, the specific cultural and social details — that it is typically carried out by relatives, often against women, and involves restoring family honour — are not predictable from the constituents alone, making the expression only partially transparent.

Etymology

Honor killing comes from the idea that the word honor, meaning the family's 'good name', must be protected, and some people thought killing a relative could restore that honor. So the phrase means 'the killing of a family member who is thought to have brought shame on the family'.