infanticide
noun/ɪnˈfæntɪsaɪd/
/ɪnˈfæntɪsaɪd/
(formal)- [uncountable] the crime of a mother killing her child when it is less than one year old
- These conditions lead to neglect, child abuse, and even infanticide.
- [uncountable] (in some cultures) the practice of killing babies that are not wanted, for example because they are girls and not boys
- [countable] a person who kills a baby, especially their own child
Word Originmid 17th cent.: via French from late Latin infanticidium, from Latin infant- (‘unable to speak’, from in- ‘not’ + fant- ‘speaking’) + -cidium (from caedere ‘kill’).
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infanticide