Teacher, what's GENOCIDE?

You know how to spell it, and I'm going to tell you the meaning, but I want you to know how to use it.


pronunciation: geno•cide (jen′ə sīd′)

part of speech: noun

definition: the systematic killing of, or a program of action intended to destroy, a whole national or ethnic group

etymology: Gr genos, race, kind (see genus) + -cide: first applied to the attempted extermination of the Jews by Nazi Germany

related forms: genocidal gen′o•ci′•dal (-sīd′'l) adjective

Usage Examples

Converse of object
• commit: Whether we go to war or commit genocide is a choice, too.

• perpetrate: The media's claim that the Srebrenica massacre was an act of genocide perpetrated by the Serbs is not a lie.

• halt: Can organized military force halt genocide and other violence against civilians?

• constitute: Some would say that 7000 casualties on one side and a dozen on the other constitutes genocide.

• prevent: But we are the future; we can prevent genocide if we choose to take a stand.

• stop: Our sole purpose is to try to save lives by helping stop the genocide in Palestine.


Preposition: against
• Palestinian: They face charges relating to genocide against the Palestinians.

Adjective modifier
• Palestinian: The film tells the true story of a woman who went to Israel to protest against the ongoing Palestinian genocide.

• Palestinian: The weakness of the UN and silence of world leaders enables the perpetrators of the Palestinian Genocide to get away with murder.

• Nazi: The Origins of Nazi Genocide: From Euthanasia to the Final Solution.

• Palestinian: There is also a dearth of creative talent in the wake of the Palestinian genocide.

• attempted: The writer argues that there is a strong case to be made for charging Israel's prime minister with genocide or at least attempted genocide.

• committed: George Galloway's analogy compared the historic crimes of the Warsaw ghetto to the genocide committed against the Palestinians.

Modifies a noun
• survivor: He should seek asylum, he is a genocide survivor.

• memorial: The victims and survivors: haunting images of the dead laid out at the genocide memorial along the Gaza beach, beside the Mediterranean Sea.

• convention: His campaign came to an end when the genocide convention was accepted in 1986.

• trial: Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin goes on trial at The Hague, facing genocide charges over the 33 massacres which took place during the 1947-1949 War.

• charge: There is no statue of limitations on genocide charges.

Noun used with modifier
• Palestinian: The Palestinian genocide has not been accurately reported in the American media.

Preposition: of
• century: If it must continue, let it be the most well-documented genocide of the 21st century. History must not repeat itself, for we risk the destruction of the entire human race.