Genocide meaning

jĕn'ə-sīd'
The systematic killing of substantial numbers of people on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, social status, or other particularities.
noun
4
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The systematic and widespread extermination or attempted extermination of a national, racial, religious, or ethnic group.
noun
2
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The systematic destruction of a national or ethnic group, specif. by means of execution or murder.
noun
2
1
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Origin of genocide

Coined in 1943 by Raphael Lemkin (1900–1959), a Polish-Jewish legal scholar, to describe what the Turkish government perpetrated against the Armenian people between about 1915 and 1918: the Armenian Genocide. From the stem of Ancient Greek γένος (génos, “race, kind”) or Latin gēns (“tribe, clan”) (as in genus), +‎ -cide (“killing, killer”).

Sentence Examples

  • Before he is even an adult, Ender has committed genocide.

  • The National Association of Black Social Workers called them a form of cultural genocide.

  • Another example of such impunity was the Armenian genocide of 1915 that was orchestrated by the Ottoman Empire.

  • But we are the future; we can prevent genocide if we choose to take a stand.

  • But the leaders of Turkey committed genocide against the Armenians.

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Related articles

Words near genocide in the Dictionary