hosticide

English

Etymology

From Latin hostis (“enemy”) + English -cide or Latin caedere (“to kill”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɒstɪsaɪd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑstɪsaɪd/
• Hyphenation: hos‧ti‧cide

Noun

hosticide (uncountable)

1. The act of killing an enemy.
   • 1666, William Austin, Ἐπιλοιμια ἐπη. Or, the Anatomy of the Pestilence‎^[1], page 92:

     VVith vinegar make ſpear the ſpoil divide,
     And lancepreſado be to hoſticide:

   • 1822, Robert Carr, Blighted Ambition‎^[2], page 352:

     how can I be safe when so many are privy to our hosticide, as your Lordship terms the death of Overbury.

   • 1888, W. H. Bakewell, Vision of Faith in the Dream of Time‎^[3], page 187:

     Oh let me in, or witness suicide,
     Or see me turn on thee a hosticide!

   • 2014, William Walker, Antiformalist, Unrevolutionary, Illiberal Milton‎^[4], page 12:

     For the argument that Milton advocated not regicide but tyrannicide and hosticide, see also Dzelzainis, 'Milton and the Regicide'.

   • 2015, Alexander Raju, And Still Plays the Abyssinian Damsel on her Dulcimer‎^[5], page 240:

     I was curious about the fate of Ras Mikael who came to the palace of lyoas as a guest and committed the hosticide.