ecocide
Syllables: eco·cideUK/ˈiːkəʊsaɪd/
ecocide noun: the complete destruction of an ecosystem due to human activities, such as due to exploitation of resources, nuclear warfare, or the dumping of harmful chemicals.
Noun
ecocide (countable and uncountable, plural ecocides)
- The complete destruction of an ecosystem due to human activities, such as due to exploitation of resources, nuclear warfare, or the dumping of harmful chemicals.
- Two common terms used to characterize injuries to the environment include “geocide” and “ecocide,” terms particularly applicable to rain forest damage because it is irreparable.[1997, Virginia Journal of International Law, volume 38, page 377
- It has also been suggested that environmental crimes might include the proposed crime of ‘ecocide’ or ‘geocide’, with proponents of this view attempting to draw parallels between destructive acts towards the environment and those against the qualifying groups for genocide. […] [M]any who advocate...2013, Alexandra R. Harrington, “The Crime of Aggression and Threats to the Future”, in Sébastien Jodoin, Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, editors, Sustainable Development, International Criminal...
- Synonyms:
- geocide
ecocide meaning in Tamil, Arabic, Indonesian and Persian
ecocide in Tamil
- சூழல் அழிவு, சூழல்கொல்லி
ecocide in Arabic
- destruction of an ecosystem
- إِبَادَة بِيئِيَّة ʔibāda bīʔiyya
ecocide in Indonesian
- destruction of an ecosystem
- ekosida
ecocide in Persian
- destruction of an ecosystem
- بومکُشی bum-koši
Synonyms of ecocide
Forms of ecocide
| plural | ecocides |
|---|
Origin of ecocide
From eco- + -cide. First used in 1969 by the American plant biologist Arthur Galston to refer to the willful destruction of the environment with Agent Orange.
Words formed from ecocide
Questions about ecocide
- What does ecocide mean?
- Ecocide means the complete destruction of an ecosystem due to human activities, such as due to exploitation of resources, nuclear warfare, or the dumping of harmful chemicals.
- What is ecocide in Tamil?
- Ecocide in Tamil is சூழல் அழிவு, சூழல்கொல்லி. See Ecocide meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is ecocide?
- Ecocide is a noun.
- How do you pronounce ecocide?
- Ecocide is pronounced /ˈiːkəʊsaɪd/ (UK).
- What is the plural of ecocide?
- The plural of ecocide is ecocides.
Words near ecocide in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ecocide (page history and authors); ecocide (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-ecocide.oga.
Cite this entry: “ecocide.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ecocide. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.