Meaning & use
infanticide
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Meanings
noununcountable
The crime of killing a baby, especially one less than a year old.
Grammar: Uncountable when referring to the crime in general; countable when referring to a specific case.
Patterns
- commit infanticide
- be charged with infanticide
The law treats infanticide as a serious crime.
She was charged with infanticide after the death of her newborn.
Historically, infanticide was sometimes practiced in times of famine.
nouncountable
A person who kills a baby.
Grammar: Countable: an infanticide, several infanticides.
Patterns
- an infanticide
The court convicted the infanticide and sentenced her to prison.
He was described as an infanticide in the newspapers.
Word forms
| plural | infanticides |
|---|
Common combinations
- commit infanticide
- In some ancient societies, people committed infanticide to control population.
- be accused of infanticide
- She was accused of infanticide but later found innocent.
- female infanticide
- Female infanticide has been reported in some regions.
Synonyms and how they differ
- child murder
- A more general term that can refer to killing an older child as well; infanticide specifically refers to a baby.
Word family
- infant noun
- A baby or very young child.
- infanticidal adjective
- Relating to or characteristic of infanticide.
Commonly confused: infanticide or genocide?
infanticide vs genocide
Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people, while infanticide is the killing of a baby.
Practice
The term 'infanticide' specifically refers to the killing of ______.
Choose one answer.
Infanticide is the killing of a baby, especially under one year old. Genocide refers to a group, and the other options do not match the specific meaning of the term.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “infanticide”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.