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infanticide

Pronunciation: /ɪnˈfantɪsʌɪd/

Translate infanticide | into Italian
Definition of infanticide

noun

  • 1 [mass noun] the crime of a mother killing her child within a year of birth: cases of infanticide often involve extreme emotional disturbance
  • the practice in some societies of killing unwanted children soon after birth: female infanticide was practised to reduce the population in times of famine
  • 2a person who kills an infant, especially their own child.

Derivatives

infanticidal

Pronunciation: /-ˈsʌɪd(ə)l/

adjective

Origin:

mid 17th century: via French from late Latin infanticidium, from Latin infant- (see infant) + -cidium (see -cide)

infanticide in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of infanticide in the US English dictionary