Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The killing of one person by another, regardless of intention or legality.
  • noun A person who kills another person.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A person who kills another; a manslayer.
  • noun The killing of a human being by a human being.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The killing of one human being by another.
  • noun One who kills another; a manslayer.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable The killing of one person by another, whether premeditated or unintentional.
  • noun countable A person who kills another.
  • noun countable, US, police jargon A victim of homicide; a person who has been unlawfully killed by someone else.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the killing of a human being by another human being

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin homicīdium and homicīda : homō, man; see dhghem- in Indo-European roots + -cīdium and -cīda, -cide.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin homicīda ("man-slayer") and homicīdium ("manslaughter").

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Examples

  • These are the words Carroll Ann Ellis uses to open the biweekly meeting of the homicide support group in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. The term homicide survivor may appear, at first, tobe an oxymoron; by definition of the crime, the victim does not survive.

    Obsession John Douglas 1998

  • These are the words Carroll Ann Ellis uses to open the biweekly meeting of the homicide support group in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. The term homicide survivor may appear, at first, tobe an oxymoron; by definition of the crime, the victim does not survive.

    Obsession John Douglas 1998

  • But the guidelines emphasize that the term "homicide" is neutral.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2011

  • "The Office of the Chief M.dical Examiner uses the term homicide to mean a death at the hands of another," explained the M. E.'s attorney, Jacqueline Faherty.

    LewRockwell.com Blog 2010

  • None of the participants yet realize how convoluted and complex the motive for the homicide is and how dangerous trying to prove it will be.

    The Black Path-Asa Larsson « The Merry Genre Go Round Reviews 2008

  • Dr. MURPHY: We are seeing a few more incidences of what we call homicide-suicides, where someone takes the life of their significant other and then their own life.

    Las Vegas: The Suicide Capital Of America 2008

  • What brings him to this crossroads and has entangled him in a homicide is the tale of a child who becomes a man driven to do extraordinary things.

    Cloud Sketcher by Richard Rayner: Questions 2001

  • MERIDIAN -- Meridian Police are investigating what they call a homicide near the intersection of Eagle and Ustick.

    KTVB - Top Stories 2010

  • Not every kind of homicide is equally culpable, after all.

    Matthew Yglesias » Bishops and Abortion 2010

  • Not every kind of homicide is equally culpable, after all.

    Matthew Yglesias » Bishops and Abortion 2010

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