fratricide
noun
fratricide is spelled F-R-A-T-R-I-C-I-D-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 98,107th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fratricide means “The killing of one's brother (or sister)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fratricide is fratricides.
How many letters and syllables are in fratricide?
| Letters | 10: F-R-A-T-R-I-C-I-D-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 11 million words; the 98,107th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is fratricide?
Fratricide appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 98,107th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce fratricide?
- US
Fratricide has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-fratricide.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of fratricide
- fratricides plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fratricide mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The killing of one's brother (or sister).
- 2
The intentional or unintentional killing of a comrade in arms.
- 3
The undesirable situation where the separate missiles from a MIRV interfere with each other as they explode.
- 4
A person who commits fratricide.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fratricide in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fratricide |
| German | Brudermord, Geschwistermord, Geschwistertötung, Fratrizid , Brudermörder, Brudermörderin |
| Portuguese | fratricídio , fratricida |
| Spanish | fratricidio , fratricida |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does fratricide come from?
From Middle French fratricide or its etymon Latin frātricīdium.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).