verbicide

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“
Homicide and verbicide--that is, violent treatment of a word with fatal results to its legitimate meaning, which is its life--are alike forbidden.

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Definitions (2)

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  1. The killing of a word, in a figurative sense; perversion of a word from its proper meaning, as in punning. [Rare and humorous.] Homicide and verbicide—that is, violent treatment of a word with fatal results to its legitimate meaning, which is its life—are alike forbidden. O. W. Holmes, Autocrat, i.
  2. One who kills a word or words. [Rare and humorous.] These clownish verbicides have carried their antics to the point of disgust. M. C. Tyler, The Independent (New York), May 2, 1867.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Latin verbum, a word, + -cidium, a killing, from cædere, kill.
  2. from Latin verbum, a word, + -cīda, a killer, from cædere, kill.
 

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