Standard Lemma guide

feticide

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈfiːtɪsaɪd/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The killing of a fetus or embryo; an induced abortion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

One who kills a fetus.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the act of destroying a fetus

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aborticide

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: induced abortion

History

Etymology

From fetus + -cide or fetus + -icide, from Middle French -cide, from Latin -cīda (“cutter, killer”) and its derivation -cīdium (“killing”), from -cīd (combining form of caedō (“cut, kill”)) + -a (“-er”, forming agent nouns).

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: fœticide — killing of a fetus
  • German: Fetozid — killing of a fetus
  • Hindi: भ्रूणहत्या (bhrūṇhatyā) — killing of a fetus
  • Icelandic: fósturdráp — killing of a fetus
  • Japanese: 堕胎 (datai) — killing of a fetus
  • Macedonian: плодоубиство (plodoubistvo) — killing of a fetus
  • Norwegian Bokmål: fosterdrap — killing of a fetus
  • Spanish: feticidio — killing of a fetus