English
internecive
Internecive comes from Latin internecīvus ‘murderous’, from necō ‘kill’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- ‘perish, disappear’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*neḱ-1‘perish, disappear’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*neks2reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnex1‘murder, slaughter, killing, violent death’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnecō3‘kill’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinternecō4‘to kill, murder’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinternecīvus5‘murderous’
- Englishearliest quotation 1819internecive5
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin neco
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin nex
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin interneco
- 4 Wiktionary, Latin internecivus
- 5 Wiktionary, English internecive
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819, Sydney Smith, The Game Laws: “Not a cessation of poaching, but a succession of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*neḱ-Wiktionary, Latin neco‘perish, disappear’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*neksWiktionary, Latin nexreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnexWiktionary, Latin neco‘murder, slaughter, killing, violent death’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnecōWiktionary, Latin interneco‘kill’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinternecōWiktionary, Latin internecivus‘to kill, murder’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinternecīvusWiktionary, English internecive‘murderous’
- Englishearliest quotation 1819interneciveWiktionary, English internecive. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1819, Sydney Smith, The Game Laws: “Not a cessation of poaching, but a succession of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- ‘perish, disappear’
innocent, innocence, nuisance, obnoxious, nectar, innocuous, noxious, necropolis, 18 more
Today it means
adj internecine
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “internecive”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin neco, Latin nex, Latin interneco, Latin internecivus. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- / internecive