hosticide

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English

Etymology

From Latin hostis (enemy) + English -cide or Latin caedere (to kill).

Pronunciation

Noun

hosticide (uncountable)

  1. The act of killing an enemy.
    • 1666, William Austin, Ἐπιλοιμια ἐπη. Or, the Anatomy of the Pestilence, page 92:
      VVith vinegar make ſpear the ſpoil divide,
      And lancepreſado be to hoſticide:
    • 1822, Robert Carr, Blighted Ambition, page 352:
      how can I be safe when so many are privy to our hosticide, as your Lordship terms the death of Overbury.
    • 1888, W. H. Bakewell, Vision of Faith in the Dream of Time, page 187:
      Oh let me in, or witness suicide,
      Or see me turn on thee a hosticide!
    • 2014, William Walker, Antiformalist, Unrevolutionary, Illiberal Milton, page 12:
      For the argument that Milton advocated not regicide but tyrannicide and hosticide, see also Dzelzainis, 'Milton and the Regicide'.
    • 2015, Alexander Raju, And Still Plays the Abyssinian Damsel on her Dulcimer, page 240:
      I was curious about the fate of Ras Mikael who came to the palace of lyoas as a guest and committed the hosticide.