homicide
homicide Lexical Profile
homicide Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The deliberate or unlawful killing of one human being by another; in legal contexts, any killing of a person, whether criminal, accidental, or justifiable.
"The forensic team spent weeks analyzing evidence from the homicide investigation."
North American The police department or detective division responsible for investigating murders and suspicious deaths.
"After five years on patrol, she was promoted to a detective position in homicide."
A person who kills another human being (now formal or literary).
"In the nineteenth-century novel, the fugitive was shunned by society as a convicted homicide."
Word Nuance & Usage
In legal contexts, 'homicide' is a broad, neutral term for the killing of one person by another (which may be justifiable or accidental), whereas 'murder' specifically denotes an unlawful, premeditated killing.
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Old French 'homicide', from Latin 'homicidium' (manslaughter) and 'homicida' (a killer), formed from 'homo' (man, human being) and '-cidium' or '-cida', derived from 'caedere' (to cut, strike, or kill).