Where does “fratricide” come from?
Fratricide derives from Old French fratricide, from Latin fratricida meaning killer of a brother, combining frāter brother from Proto-Indo-European bʰréh₂tēr with -cida killer from Latin -cida.
fratricide (English): The killing of one's brother; A person who...
Definitions
- The killing of one's brother; A person who...
Ancestry of “fratricide”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | fratricide | — |
| 2 | Middle French | fratricide | — |
| 3 | Latin | fratricidium | the murder of a brother, fratricide |
| 4 | Latin | -cīdium | — |
| 5 | Latin | -ium | Suffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes... |
| 6 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |