Genocide

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈd͡ʒɛnəsaɪd/

Definitions

1. The intentional and systematic annihilation of a specific group based on ethnicity, nationality, or religion encompasses acts of extreme violence and oppression
2. This term indicates the planned and organized extermination of a community defined by shared traits, often involving severe human rights violations
3. The deliberate and systematic destruction of a particular ethnic, national, or religious group denotes actions marked by extreme cruelty and widespread harm to individuals

Etymology: Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, coined this term in 1943 or 1944 and spent years trying to get it recognised. He built it from two parts: the Ancient Greek "génos," meaning race, tribe or kind, and the Latin "-cide," meaning killing. He was explicit about the model. In his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe, he said the new word was formed like "tyrannicide" and "infanticide," so that it could name an old practice in its modern form. Lemkin's interest was sparked by events. He used the word for the Armenian genocide, the massacres of Assyrians, and the Nazi murder of Jews, showing that the crime was not confined to a single people or era. Its Greek root, "génos," is related to the Latin "gens," meaning clan or tribe, which also gave English "genus."

Synonyms: massacre, extermination, holocaust

Antonyms: preservation, protection