parricide meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

parricide

noun

UK /ˈpæ.ɹɪ.saɪd/

Etymology From Middle French parricide, from Latin parricīda, of uncertain origin, perhaps from pār (“equal”).

Someone who kills a relative, especially a parent.

I told him the reuenging Gods, / ’Gainst Paricides did all the thunder bend […]c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

Someone who commits treason.

noun

Etymology From Middle French parricide, from Latin parricīdium, of uncertain origin, perhaps from pār (“equal”).

The killing of a relative, especially a parent.

The new accusation brought by Urban against Manfred of murdering his sister-in-law's embassador – it may be observed that, tacitly, he acquits him of parricide, fratricide, and nepoticide – requires a little explanation.1856, Mrs. William Busk, Mediæval Popes, Emperors, Kings, and Crusaders: Or, Germany, Italy and Palestine, from A.D. 1125 to A.D. 1268, volume IV, London: Hookham and Sons, →OCLC, page 294:
The production of Schiller’s ‘Don Carlos’ was long forbidden, because Don Carlos loved his stepmother; in ‘The Robbers,’ the Father was turned into an uncle, and a stupendous effect was produced by the cry of “Unclecide,” substituted for Parricide.1861 July 27, The Athenæum: Journal of English and Foreign Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts, number 1761, London, page 116, column 1:

The killing of a ruler, or other authority figure; treason.