Etymograph

English

prolicide

Prolicide comes from Latin prōlēs ‘offspring’, and goes back to *olēs ‘growth’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*olēs1‘growth’reconstructed
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōlēs2‘offspring’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1827prolicide2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin proles
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English prolicide
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1827, Robley Dunglison, Syllabus of the Lectures on Medical Jurisprudence: “PROLICIDE […] Admits of two divisions, fœticide or criminal…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*olēsWiktionary, Latin proles‘growth’reconstructed
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEprōlēsWiktionary, English prolicide‘offspring’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1827prolicideWiktionary, English prolicide. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1827, Robley Dunglison, Syllabus of the Lectures on Medical Jurisprudence: “PROLICIDE […] Admits of two divisions, fœticide or criminal…”

Formed from -cide

Linked words

through Latin prōlēs ‘offspring’

proletariat, proletarian, 4 more

Today it means

noun The crime of destroying one's offspring, either in the womb or after birth.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “prolicide”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin proles. 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 *olēs / prolicide

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