English
senilicide
Senilicide comes from Latin senilis ‘characteristic of or pertaining to old people’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sénos.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sénos1‘old’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*senos1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*seneks1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenex1‘old’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenilis2‘characteristic of or pertaining to old people’
- Englishearliest quotation 2004senilicide2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin senilis
- 2 Wiktionary, English senilicide
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, Did Eskimos put their elderly on ice floes to die?: “Where it was practiced, senilicide was rare except during…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sénosWiktionary, Latin senilis‘old’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*senosWiktionary, Latin senilisreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*seneksWiktionary, Latin senilisreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenexWiktionary, Latin senilis‘old’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsenilisWiktionary, English senilicide‘characteristic of or pertaining to old people’
- Englishearliest quotation 2004senilicideWiktionary, English senilicide. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, Did Eskimos put their elderly on ice floes to die?: “Where it was practiced, senilicide was rare except during…”
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *seneks
through Latin senex ‘old’
sir, senate, senior, senator, sire, monsignor, signore, signoria, senescent, sene, 9 more
Today it means
noun Killing of old people, especially to conserve resources for younger people.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “senilicide”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin senilis. 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 *sénos / senilicide