-cide Definition

sīd
suffix
Killer.
Bactericide.
American Heritage
Act of killing.
Ecocide.
American Heritage
Used to make nouns meaning the killing of the person or thing indicated by the first component of the word. (This applies to all of the derived terms listed below.)
Wiktionary
Used to make nouns meaning a killer of the person or thing indicated by the first component of the word. (This applies to some, but not all, of the derived terms listed below.)
Wiktionary
affix
A killer.
Pesticide.
Webster's New World
A killing.
Genocide.
Webster's New World

Origin of -cide

  • In sense 2, from French -cide, from Latin -cida (“cutter, killer”), from -cid (combining form of caedō (“cut, kill”)) + -a (“-er”) (used for form agent nouns). In sense 1 (now the primary sense), by extension from sense 2.

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English from Old French (from Latin -cīda killer) and from Latin -cīdium killing both from caedere to strike, kill kaə-id- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to -cide using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

-cide