Etymograph

English

amicicide

Amicicide comes from Latin amicus ‘friendly, well-disposed, amicable’, and goes back to amō ‘to love’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamō1‘to love’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamicus2‘friendly, well-disposed, amicable’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1873amicicide2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin amicus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English amicicide
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1873, Junius Henri Browne, Women as Idealists: “Men who have been the firmest friends, while in…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamōWiktionary, Latin amicus‘to love’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamicusWiktionary, English amicicide‘friendly, well-disposed, amicable’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1873amicicideWiktionary, English amicicide. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1873, Junius Henri Browne, Women as Idealists: “Men who have been the firmest friends, while in…”

Linked words

through Latin amō ‘to love’

amour, amenity, 19 more

through Latin amicus ‘friendly, well-disposed, amicable’

enemy, enmity, amiable, amicable, amity, amigo, inimical, 4 more

Today it means

noun killing of a friend

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “amicicide”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin amicus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin amō / amicicide

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