principicide

Noun

principicide (countable and uncountable, plural principicides)

1. (rare) The killing of a prince.
   • The Roumanians hold the world record for principicide, or the assassination of princes, with Serbia—whose record in this regard is not to be despised, either—a bad second.1919, Eugene Pivany, “Appendix B. Roumania’s Territorial Claims. [From a treatise entitled “Roumania in Hungary,” by Eugene Pivany.]”, in Treaty of Peace with Germany: Extracts from Hearing Before...
   • Both of these stories, that he was exiled or placed in terror of his life, belong to a recognized genre invented to justify the principicide and yet continue the imperial system.1997, Julian Bennett, Trajan, Optimus Princeps: A Life and Times, Bloomington, Ind; Indianapolis, Ind.: Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 36
2. (countable, rare) One who kills a prince.
   • The law has been vindicated, and the outraged feelings of the people of these colonies have been avenged by the execution this morning of the wretched man—the would-be principicide [Henry O’Farrell].1868 April 21, “Victoria. [From our Melbourne Correspondent.]”, in The Express & Telegraph, late edition, volume V, number 1,324, Adelaide, S.A., published 24 April 1868, page [3], column 3
   • As it was not the ‘bullet,’ or the ‘pistol,’ or the ‘powder,’ that animated the would-be Principicide, so it is not the ‘consumptuous dinner’—not the fish, flesh, fowl, and good plum-pudding, that tends to increase the appetite for them.1885, F[rederic] R[ichard] Lees, “The Sermon in Relation to Facts”, in Essays Critical and Controversial Showing the Harmony of Bible-Truth with True Scientific Temperance, volume 5, London: […]...