Uxoricidal

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Referring to the act of committing murder against a spouse, especially a wife, this concept includes emotional motivations and implications of such violence
2. Concerning the brutal homicide of a female partner, this term signifies both the intent and realization of that egregious act
3. Pertaining to the act of killing one's wife, this term encompasses both the violent act itself and the emotional context or rationale behind such a crime

Etymology: Uxoricidal is a plain formation: it takes "uxoricide", the killing of a wife, and adds the suffix "-al", which turns a noun into an adjective meaning "relating to" or "of the kind of". The suffix reached English through Old French and ultimately from Latin "-ālis", which was itself used to form adjectives from nouns, so "uxoricidal" describes anything pertaining to such a killing. The base word "uxoricide" is the more revealing part. It joins Latin "uxor", meaning "wife", with the Latin-derived "-cide" from "caedere", "to kill", the same element found in "homicide" and "suicide". So the whole word is built from two Latin pieces, and its sense is specific: a killing whose victim is a wife, rather than a spouse of either sex.