internecine

adjective

in·ter·ne·cine ˌin-tər-ˈne-ˌsēn

-ˈnē-sᵊn,

-ˈnē-ˌsīn,

-nə-ˈsēn;

in-ˈtər-nə-ˌsēn

Synonyms of internecine next

: of, relating to, or involving conflict within a group

bitter internecine feuds

: marked by slaughter : deadly

especially : mutually destructive

Did you know?

Internecine comes from the Latin internecinus ("fought to the death" or "destructive"), which traces to the verb "necare" ("to kill") and the prefix inter-. ("Inter-" usually means "between" or "mutual" in Latin, but it can also indicate the completion of an action.) Internecine meant "deadly" when it appeared in English in the early 17th century, but when Samuel Johnson entered it in his dictionary almost a century later, he was apparently misled by "inter-" and defined the word as "endeavouring mutual destruction." Johnson's definition was carried into later dictionaries, and before long his sense was the dominant meaning of the word. "Internecine" developed the association with internal group conflict in the 20th century, and that's the most common sense today.

Examples of internecine in a Sentence

a political party that has suffered because of bitter internecine rivalries

Recent Examples on the Web Moreover, historians said, Mr. Buthelezi controlled Inkatha paramilitary fighters whose internecine clashes with African National Congress militants claimed up to 20,000 lives in the late 1980s and ’90s. —

Robert D. McFadden, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2023 Moreover, historians said, Buthelezi controlled Inkatha paramilitary fighters whose internecine clashes with ANC militants claimed up to 20,000 lives in the late 1980s and ’90s. —

Robert D. McFadden, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Sep. 2023 The ferocity and scale of the violence have drawn comparisons to Somalia, which collapsed amid bitter internecine strife in the 1990s. —

Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2023 Iraq remains plagued by internecine violence and terrorism. —

Victor Gaetan, Foreign Affairs, 12 Mar. 2021 Given Boebert's barely-there victory in 2022, McCarthy and his allies — as well as Boebert herself — seem to understand that maintaining their majority supplants all other internecine considerations. —

Rafi Schwartz, The Week, 17 July 2023 This year featured an unusually high level of internecine competition. —

Lili Loofbourow, Washington Post, 12 July 2023 In its company report, Teck questioned whether the lower limit was in force, presumably because of the internecine feud among state authorities. —

Jim Robbins, New York Times, 11 July 2023 To this day, Libya remains trapped in a Hobbesian hell of internecine warfare and lawlessness. —

Max Boot, Foreign Affairs, 10 Mar. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'internecine.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.