# genocide

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈd͡ʒɛnəsaɪd/ · frequency rank #8,149

## Definitions
1. The systematic and deliberate destruction of a group of people; typically by killing substantial numbers of them, on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, or nationality.
2. The systematic killing of substantial numbers of people on other grounds.
3. The systematic suppression of ideas or practices on the basis of cultural or ethnic origin; culturicide.
4. The elimination of an entire class of monsters by the player.

## Etymology
Coined by lawyer of Polish-Jewish descent Raphael Lemkin in 1943 or 1944 in reference to the Armenian Genocide (then known by other names; see: Terminology of the Armenian genocide), massacres of Assyrians (such as the Simele massacre and Seyfo) and the Jewish Holocaust. From the stem of Ancient Greek γένος (génos, “race, kind”) (cognate with Latin gēns (“tribe, clan”), whence genus), corresponding to geno- + -cide (“killing, killer”). Piecewise doublet of gendercide. Compare genticide.

## Easily confused with
- **genocidal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/genocidal-vs-genocide)

## Common misspellings (11)
`egnocide`, `gencoide`, `gennocide`, `genoccide`, `genocdie`, `genocidde`, `genocied`, `genoicde`, `geoncide`, `ggenocide`, `gneocide`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/genocide