femicide

noun

fem·​i·​cide ˈfe-mə-ˌsīd How to pronounce femicide (audio)
plural femicides
: the gender-based murder of a woman or girl by a man
There have been calls for a "national shutdown" to protest femicide in South Africa.Africa Check
… speaks to a generation of young people fed up with femicides, sexual assault, and the ever more pervasive violence in Mexico.Cody Copeland

Examples of femicide in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Prosecutors said the case is being investigated as a face of femicide, sometimes called feminicide. Saleen Martin, USA Today, 16 May 2025 In 2020, a quarter of female killings in Mexico were investigated as femicides, with cases reported in each one of Mexico’s 32 states, according to Amnesty International. Hira Humayun, CNN Money, 15 May 2025 Those figures are likely undercounts because many countries around the world don't collect data on femicide. Fatma Tanis, NPR, 25 Nov. 2024 In fact, according to official data from Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), an average of 10 femicides occur every day in the country. The Glamour Editors, Glamour, 8 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for femicide

Word History

Etymology

femi- (in Latin fēmina "woman") + -cide (after homicide) — more at feminine entry 1

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of femicide was in 1976

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Cite this Entry

“Femicide.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/femicide. Accessed 28 May. 2025.

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