What does filicide mean?
Filicide is the deliberate killing of a child by his or her own parent, and by extension the word can denote the parent who commits the act. It belongs to the same family of terms as homicide, suicide, and infanticide, all built on Latin roots that name both the victim and the killer's relationship to them. Unlike infanticide, which is restricted to infants, filicide applies to victims of any age, including adult children. The word is formal and largely confined to criminology, psychology, law, and serious journalism; it is rarely heard in casual speech, and when used it signals gravity and clinical detachment. Researchers who study filicide distinguish between maternal and paternal cases and examine contributing factors such as mental illness, domestic violence, and family breakdown. The word's power lies in how precisely it captures a violation of the natural expectation that parents protect their children.
The deliberate killing of one's own child.
"The psychiatrist published a landmark study on maternal filicide."
Often specified as maternal or paternal filicide depending on whether the mother or father committed the act.
A person who kills their own child.
"He was convicted as a filicide after confessing to the death of his two sons."
As a countable noun, filicide takes the regular plural 'filicides', typically referring to multiple instances or cases of the act.
"National statistics show that filicides have declined over the past two decades."
Filicide has its own word for each family member — fratricide, sororicide, mariticide — but this one names the crime that defies nature's expected order.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of filicide
Filicide derives from the Latin filius meaning 'son' and filia meaning 'daughter', combined with the suffix -cide from Latin caedere, 'to kill' or 'to cut down'. The pattern follows classical Greek-influenced formations such as homicide and regicide, which English adopted in the early modern period. The same root fili- appears in filial, affiliate, and affiliation, all relating to a son, daughter, or childlike relationship.
How filicide is actually used
Filicide is a formal, clinical term found chiefly in criminology, psychology, journalism, and legal writing rather than everyday conversation. It carries grave connotations and should be used with sensitivity. It is gender-neutral, though writers often specify maternal filicide or paternal filicide when the parent's sex is relevant.
Easily confused with filicide
Infanticide refers specifically to the killing of an infant or very young child, whereas filicide covers the killing of a child of any age by a parent.
Fratricide is the killing of one's brother (or sibling), while filicide is specifically the killing of one's child.