internecine

English

WOTD – 20 September 2006

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin internecīnus (“deadly”), from inter (“between”) and necō (“to kill”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɪntəˈniːsaɪn/, /-sɪn/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɪntɚˈnɛsin/, /ˌɪntɚˈnisin/, /ˌɪntɚˈnɛsən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːn

Adjective

internecine (not comparable)

1. Mutually destructive; most often applied to warfare.

   Internecine strife in Gaza claimed its most senior victim yesterday.

3. Characterized by struggle within a group, usually applied to an ethnic or familial relationship.

   The Mongol people were plagued by internecine conflict until Genghis Khan unified them.

   • c. 1900, Mark Twain, Autobiography of Mark Twain, published 2010:

     During the year of my engagement — 1869 — while I was out on the lecture platform, the daily letter that came for me generally brought me news from the front — by which expression I refer to the internecine war that was always going on in a friendly way between these two orthographists about the spelling of words.

   • 2019 April 28, Alex McLevy, “Game Of Thrones Suffers the Fog of War in the Battle against the Dead (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1], archived from the original on 31 May 2021:

     Having survived “The Long Night,” Daenerys will now be turning her attention back to the problem that originally vexed her: Cersei Lannister. It will be interesting to see how the show tries to raise the stakes of an internecine squabble between competing monarchs when compared to an existential threat to humanity’s very existence, but this series has always excelled when it goes deep on the machinations of political chicanery.

Translations

mutually destructive

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 自相殘殺的／自相残杀的 (zìxiāngcánshā de), 兩敗俱傷的／两败俱伤的 (liǎngbàijùshāng de)

• Danish: gensidigt ødelæggende
• Dutch: broederstrijd? (nl) m
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: kummallekin tuhoisa (two parties); kaikille tuhoisa (many parties)
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: no equivalent term in German, but see gegenseitig vernichtend
• Hindi: अन्तरवधीय (antaravdhīya)
• Italian: intestino (it)
• Maori: haupārua
• Russian: истреби́тельный (ru) (istrebítelʹnyj)

characterized by struggle within a group

• Bulgarian: междуособен (mežduosoben)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 內部（衝突）的／内部（冲突）的 (nèibù (chōngtū) de)

• Danish: intern
• Dutch: stammentwist?
• Finnish: riitainen (fi), riitaisa (fi)
• French: intestin (fr)
• German: intern (de)
• Greek: αλληλοεξοντωτικός (el) (alliloexontotikós)
• Italian: intestino (it)
• Maori: haupārua
• Russian: междоусо́бный (ru) (meždousóbnyj)
• Swedish: inbördes (stridigheter)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: verwoestend (nl)
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 内輪もめの (うちわもめの, uchiwa mome no)
• Norwegian: gjensidig ødeleggende
• Swedish: ömsesidigt utplånande

See also

• mutual assured destruction