Adjacent Words

Homicide definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HOM'ICIDE, n. [L. homicidium; homo, man, and caedo, to strike, to kill.]
1. The killing of one man or human being by another. Homicide is of three kinds, justifiable, excusable, and felonious; justifiable, when it proceeds from unavoidable necessity, without an intention to kill, and without negligence; excusable, when it happens from misadventure, or in self-defense; felonious, when it proceeds from malice, or is done in the prosecution of some unlawful act, or in a sudden passion. Homicide committed with premeditated malice, is murder. Suicide also, or self-murder, is felonious homicide. Homicide comprehends murder and manslaughter.
1. A person who kills another; a manslayer.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the killing of a human being by another human being

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: in sense 1, from Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin homicida, from homo human being + -cida -cide; in sense 2, from Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin homicidium, from homo + -cidium -cide Date: 14th century 1. a person who kills another 2. a killing of one human being by another

Britannica Concise

Killing of one human being by another. Homicide is a general term; it includes murder, manslaughter, and other criminal homicides as well as noncriminal killings. Murder is the crime of intentionally and unjustifiably killing another. First-degree murder is a homicide committed with premeditation or in the course of a serious felony (e.g., kidnapping). Second- and third-degree murder involve lesser degrees of intent. Manslaughter is commonly divided into voluntary (or first-degree) and involuntary (or second- and third-degree) manslaughter. The first type encompasses any homicide resulting from an intentional act done without malice or premeditation and while in the heat of passion or on sudden provocation; the second type is variously defined in different jurisdictions but often includes an element of unlawful recklessness or negligence. Noncriminal homicides include killings committed in defense of oneself or another and deaths resulting from accidents caused by persons engaged in lawful acts. See also self-defense.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the killing of a human being by another. 2 a person who kills a human being. Derivatives: homicidal adj. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L homicidium (sense 1), homicida (sense 2) (HOMO man)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Homicide Hom"i*cide, n. [F., fr. L. homicidium, fr. homicida a man slayer; homo man + caedere to cut, kill. See Homage, and cf. Concise, Shed, v. t.] 1. The killing of one human being by another. Note: Homicide is of three kinds: justifiable, as when the killing is performed in the exercise of a right or performance of a duty; excusable, as when done, although not as duty or right, yet without culpable or criminal intent; and felonious, or involving what the law terms malice; the latter may be either manslaughter or murder. --Bouvier. 2. One who kills another; a manslayer. --Chaucer. Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(homicides) Homicide is the illegal killing of a person. (mainly AM; in BRIT, usually use murder) The police arrived at the scene of the homicide. N-VAR

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hom'-i-sid (rotseach): Hebrew has no word for killing or murder; rotseach is the word for manslayer. The Greek for murder is phonos. Homicide was every conscious violent action against a human being with the immediate result of death. It was always to be punished by death, being considered a crime against the image of God. Killing is definitely forbidden in the sixth commandment (Ge 9:5 f; Ex 20:13; 21:12; Le 24:17,21; Nu 35:16-21; De 19:11-13). The penalty of death was not inflicted when the killing was unintentional or unpremeditated (Ex 21:13; Nu 35:22-25; Jos 20:3-5; compare Mishna, Makkoth, xi. 5). Cities of Refuge were founded to which the manslayer could escape from the "avenger of blood." There he had to abide till after the death of the officiating high priest. If he left the city before that event, the avenger who should kill him was free from punishment (Ex 21:13; Nu 35:10-15,25-28,32; De 19:1-13; Jos 20:2 ). See CITIES OF REFUGE. Killing a thief who broke in during the night was not accounted murder (Ex 22:2). Unintentional killing of the pregnant woman in a fray was punished according to the lexicon talionis, i.e. the husband of the woman killed could kill the wife of the man who committed the offense without being punished (Ex 21:22 f). This was not usually carried out, but it gave the judge a standard by which to fine the offender. If a man failed to build a battlement to his house, and anyone fell over and was killed, blood-guiltiness came upon that man's house (Dr 22:8). He who killed a thief in the daytime was guilty in the same way (Ex 22:3; compare the King James Version). Where a body was found, but the murderer was unknown, the elders of the city nearest to the place where it was found were ordered by a prescribed ceremony to declare that they were not guilty of neglecting their duties, and were therefore innocent of the man's blood (Dr 21:1-9). Two witnesses were necessary for a conviction of murder (Nu 35:30). If a slave died under chastisement, the master was to be punished according to the principle that "he that smiteth a man, so that he dieth, shall surely be put to death" (Ex 21:20; compare Ex 21:12). According to the rabbis the master was to be killed by the sword. Since in this passage the phrase "he shall die" is not used, some have supposed that punishment by death is not indicated. If the slave punished by the master died after one or two days, the master was not liable to punishment (Ex 21:21). Because of the words, "for he is his money," the rabbis held that non-Israelite slaves were meant. In ancient times the avenger of blood was himself to be the executioner of the murderer (Nu 35:19,21). According to Sanhedhrin 9:1 the murderer was to be beheaded. Nothing is said in the law about suicide.

Paul Levertoff

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Killing of a human being. 2. Manslayer.

Moby Thesaurus

Cain, aborticide, apache, assassin, assassination, assassinator, blood, bloodletter, bloodshedder, bloody murder, bravo, bumping-off, burker, butcher, button man, cannibal, cutthroat, desperado, elimination, eradicator, executioner, exterminator, foul play, fratricide, fungicide, garroter, genocide, germicide, gorilla, gun, gunman, gunsel, hatchet man, head-hunter, herbicide, hit man, homicidal maniac, infanticide, insecticide, killer, killing, liquidation, man-eater, man-killer, manslaughter, manslayer, massacrer, matador, matricide, microbicide, murder, murderer, parricide, patricide, pesticide, poison, poisoner, purge, purging, regicide, removal, rodenticide, slaughterer, slayer, sororicide, strangler, suicide, thug, thuggee, thuggery, thuggism, torpedo, trigger man, uxoricide, vermicide