Word.ws English Dictionary

parricide

/ˈpæ.ɹɪ.saɪd/

parricide noun: someone who kills a relative, especially a parent.

Noun (1)

parricide (plural parricides)

  1. Someone who kills a relative, especially a parent.
    • I told him the reuenging Gods, / ’Gainst Paricides did all the thunder bend […]c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    Synonyms:
    parenticide
  2. Someone who commits treason.

Noun (2)

parricide (countable and uncountable, plural parricides)

  1. The killing of a relative, especially a parent.
    • The new accusation brought by Urban against Manfred of murdering his sister-in-law's embassador – it may be observed that, tacitly, he acquits him of parricide, fratricide, and nepoticide – requires a little explanation.1856, Mrs. William Busk, Mediæval Popes, Emperors, Kings, and Crusaders: Or, Germany, Italy and Palestine, from A.D. 1125 to A.D. 1268, volume IV, London: Hookham and Sons, →OCLC, page 294
    • The production of Schiller’s ‘Don Carlos’ was long forbidden, because Don Carlos loved his stepmother; in ‘The Robbers,’ the Father was turned into an uncle, and a stupendous effect was produced by the cry of “Unclecide,” substituted for Parricide.1861 July 27, The Athenæum: Journal of English and Foreign Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts, number 1761, London, page 116, column 1
    Synonyms:
    parenticide
  2. The killing of a ruler, or other authority figure; treason.

parricide meaning in Tamil and Kannada

parricide in Tamil

உறவுக் கொலை, தந்தைக் கொலை

parricide in Kannada

ತಂದೆಕೊಲೆ, ತಂದೆಕೊಲೆಗ

Synonyms of parricide

Forms of parricide

pluralparricides

Origin of parricide

From Middle French parricide, from Latin parricīda, of uncertain origin, perhaps from pār (“equal”).

From Middle French parricide, from Latin parricīdium, of uncertain origin, perhaps from pār (“equal”).

Words formed from parricide

Questions about parricide

What does parricide mean?
Parricide means someone who kills a relative, especially a parent.
What is parricide in Tamil?
Parricide in Tamil is உறவுக் கொலை, தந்தைக் கொலை. See Parricide meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is parricide?
Parricide is a noun.
How do you pronounce parricide?
Parricide is pronounced /ˈpæ.ɹɪ.saɪd/ (UK).
What is the plural of parricide?
The plural of parricide is parricides.

Words near parricide in the dictionary

  1. parrhesic
  2. parriar
  3. parriars
  4. parricidal
  5. parricidally
  6. parricide
  7. parricides
  8. parricidial
  9. parricidiall
  10. parricidious
  11. parricidism

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: parricide (page history and authors); parricide (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); parricide (Kannada 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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-parricide.wav.

Cite this entry: “parricide.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/parricide. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.