internecine

adjective in·ter·ne·cine \ ˌin-tər-ˈne-ˌsēn , -ˈnē-sᵊn , -ˈnē-ˌsīn , -nə-ˈsēn ; in-ˈtər-nə-ˌsēn \

Updated on: 23 May 2018

Definition of internecine

1 : marked by slaughter : deadly; especially : mutually destructive

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

bitter internecine feuds

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internecine was our Word of the Day on 04/29/2007. Hear the podcast!

Examples of internecine in a Sentence

a political party that has suffered because of bitter internecine rivalries

Recent Examples of internecine from the Web

Every family has its unsavory secrets and internecine squabbles, of course.

— sarah lyall, BostonGlobe.com, "For Meghan Markle’s American family, a relentless UK glare," 16 May 2018
Its message, as the shadow of terrorism encroaches: while an internecine war raged in the halls of power, Americans were on their own.

— daniel d'addario, Time, "The Looming Tower Tells a Darkly Ironic Story About the Pre-9/11 Years," 28 Feb. 2018
These are the types of internecine battles that could trip up Democrats’ march to the majority.

— liz goodwin, BostonGlobe.com, "Nancy Pelosi says she intends to remain in leadership role," 1 May 2018
This vacuum has, as is often the case with this White House, triggered fierce internecine scrapping among those vying for Trump's ear.

— Anchorage Daily News, "Trump dismisses midterm threat, alarming GOP," 28 Apr. 2018
Some House Republicans have grumbled that Ryan should step down now, to avoid a six-month internecine battle to replace him, according to a Politico story.

— deirdre shesgreen, USA TODAY, "Paul Ryan says GOP needs him to remain as speaker because he's such a good fundraiser," 12 Apr. 2018
As the Times’ Op-Ed section has become the subject of internecine media controversy, largely over the quality and the usefulness of its conservative contributorship, Douthat stands as the cleverest and least predictable writer there.

— rachel aviv, The New Yorker, "Will Pope Francis Cause a Schism in the Catholic Church?," 7 Sep. 2015
During the last year, internecine political battles over the road have left the country’s citizens confused and clamoring to be heard.

— National Geographic, "Isolated Tribes and Forests Threatened by New Amazon Road," 23 Mar. 2018
Killmonger himself is a kind of avatar of the BPP’s deterioration in its latter years, when rebelling against white supremacy gave way to internecine bloodshed.

— adam serwer, The Atlantic, "The Tragedy of Erik Killmonger," 21 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'internecine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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 1663, 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.

Origin and Etymology of internecine

Latin internecinus, from internecare to destroy, kill, from inter- + necare to kill, from nec-, nex violent death — more at noxious

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1642

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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INTERNECINE Defined for English Language Learners

internecine

adjective

Definition of internecine for English Language Learners

: occurring between members of the same country, group, or organization

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internecine

Definition of internecine

internecine was our Word of the Day on 04/29/2007. Hear the podcast!

Examples of internecine in a Sentence

Recent Examples of internecine from the Web

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Origin and Etymology of internecine

INTERNECINE Defined for English Language Learners

internecine

Definition of internecine for English Language Learners

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