# List of types of killing

In the English language, terms for types of killing often end in the suffix -cide.

## Killing of self

* Suicide, intentionally causing one's own death.
** Altruistic suicide, suicide for the benefit of others.
** Autocide, suicide by automobile collision.
** Medicide, a suicide accomplished with the aid of a physician.
** Murder-suicide, a suicide committed immediately after one or more murders.
** Self-immolation, suicide by fire, often as a form of protest.
** Suicide by cop, acting in a threatening manner so as to provoke a lethal response from law enforcement.

## Killing of other people

All of these are considered types of homicide.

### Killing of family

* Avunculicide – the act of killing an uncle (Latin: avunculus "(maternal) uncle").
* Familicide – is a multiple-victim homicide where a killer's spouse and children are slain (Latin: familia "family").
* Filicide – the act of a parent killing their child (Latin: filius "son" and Latin: filia "daughter").
* Fratricide – the act of killing a brother (Latin: frater "brother"); also, in military context, death by friendly fire.
* Honour killing – the act of murdering a family member perceived to have brought disgrace to the family.
* Infanticide – the act of killing a child within the first year of their life.
* Mariticide – the act of killing one's husband (Latin: maritus "husband").
* Matricide – the act of killing one's mother (Latin: mater "mother").
* Neonaticide – the act of killing an infant within the first twenty-four hours or month (varies by individual and jurisdiction) of its life.
* Nepoticide – the act of killing one's nephew.
* Parricide or parenticide – the killing of one's mother, father, or other close relative.
* Patricide – the act of killing of one's father. (Latin: pater "father").
* Senicide – the killing of one's elderly family members. (Latin: senex "old man").
* Siblicide – the killing of an infant individual by their close relatives (full or half siblings).
* Sororicide – the act of killing one's sister (Latin: soror "sister").
* Uxoricide – the act of killing one's wife (Latin: uxor "wife").

### Killing of others

* Amicicide – the act of killing a friend (Latin: amicus "friend").
* Androcide – the systematic killing of men.
* Assassination – the act of killing a prominent person for either political, religious, or monetary reasons.
* Capital punishment – the judicial killing of a human being for crimes.
* Casualty – death (or injury) in wartime.
* Collateral damage – Incidental killing of persons during a military attack that were not the object of attack.
* Democide or populicide – the murder of any person or people by a government.
* Extrajudicial killing – killing by government forces without due process. See also Targeted killing.
* Euthanasia or mercy killing – the killing of any being with compassionate reasoning; e.g., significant injury or disease.
* Familiaricide in commutatione eius possessio – the act of killing a family for their property and/or possessions (from Latin: familiaris "of a household"; in commutatione eius "in exchange for"; and possessio "a possession or property").
* Femicide, gynecide, gynaecide, or gynocide – the systematic killing of women.
* Feticide – the killing of an embryo or fetus.
* Fragging – the act of killing a fellow soldier.
* Gendercide – the systematic killing of members of a specific sex or gender.
* Geronticide – the abandonment of the elderly to die, die by suicide or be killed.
* Genocide – the systematic extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group.
* Homicide – the act of killing of a person (Latin: homo "man").
* Justifiable homicide – a defense to culpable homicide (criminal or negligent homicide).
* Human sacrifice – the killing of a human for sacrificial, often religious, reasons.
* Lynching - the public killing of an individual without due process.
* Massacre, mass murder or spree killing – the killing of many people.
* Murder – the malicious and unlawful killing of a human by another human.
* Manslaughter - murder, but under legally mitigating circumstances.
* Omnicide – the act of killing all humans, to create intentional extinction of the human species (Latin: omni "all, everyone").
* Pedocide – the act of killing children.
* Serial killer - a person who murders three or more people, with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separate events.
* Spree killer - someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders in a short time, often in multiple locations.
* Contract killing - a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people.
* Targeted killing – a form of assassination which is carried out by governments against their perceived enemies. See also Extrajudicial killing.
* Xenocide – the genocide of an entire alien species. Often used in science fiction, one famous example being the novel Xenocide by Orson Scott Card.

### Killing of superiors

* Deicide – killing a god, divine being, or deity.
* Eliticide – killing the elites of a population.
* Papicide – killing of a pope (Ancient Greek: πάππας (páppas) "father").
* Regicide – killing a ruler, a King/Queen (Latin: rex, gen. regis "king").
* Tyrannicide – killing a tyrant.
* Magnicide – killing a major political figure.

## Killing of animals, disease, and pests

* Algaecide – a chemical agent that kills algae.
* Acaricide – a chemical agent that kills mites.
* Avicide – a chemical agent that kills birds.
* Bactericide – a chemical agent that kills bacteria.
* Biocide – a chemical agent that kills a broad spectrum of living organisms.
* Fungicide – chemical agents or biological organisms used to kill or inhibit fungi or fungal spores.
* Germicide – an agent that kills germs, especially pathogenic microorganisms; a disinfectant.
* Herbicide – an agent that kills unwanted plants, a weed killer.
* Insecticide – an agent that kills unwanted insects.
* Larvicide (also larvacide) – an insecticide targeted against the larval life stage of an insect.
* Microbicide – an agent used to kill or reduce the infectiousness of microorganisms.
* Miticide – a chemical to kill mites.
* Nemacide (also nematicide, nematocide) – a chemical to eradicate or kill nematodes.
* Parasiticide – a general term to describe an agent used to destroy parasites.
* Pediculicide – an agent that kills head lice.
* Pesticide – a general term to describe an agent used to destroy or repel a pest.
* Rodenticide - an agent that kills rodents (especially rats and mice).
* Scabicide – a chemical agent for killing scabies.
* Spermicide – a contraceptive agent to render sperm inert and prevent fertilization of an egg.
* Teniacide (also taeniacide, tenicide) – a chemical agent that kills tape worms.
* Theriocide – the act of killing an animal by a human (Ancient Greek: therion "wild animal, beast").
* Vermicide – an agent used to kill parasitic intestinal worms.
* Virucide (also viricide) – an agent capable of destroying or inhibiting viruses.
* Vulpicide (also vulpecide) – the killing of a fox by methods other than by hunting it with hounds.

## Killing of intangibles or inanimates

* Domicide – the systematic destruction of housing
* Ecocide – the destruction of the natural environment by such activity as war, overexploitation of resources, or pollution.
* Famacide, defamation, or slander – the killing of another's reputation.
* Linguicide – intentionally causing the death of a language.
* Epistemicide – the systematic extermination of an entire knowledge system or intellectual heritage of a group, society or people.
* Mundicide – the genocide of an entire planet or similar celestial object. Various degrees of mundicide occur throughout the universe, caused by such things as supernovas, or in the realm of science-fiction; Dark forest hypothesis. An idea popularized by Chinese author, Cixin Liu
* Urbicide – the destruction of a city or the stifling of urbanisation (urbs is Latin for "city").