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Definition of homicide noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

homicide

noun
 
/ˈhɒmɪsaɪd/
 
/ˈhɑːmɪsaɪd/
 [countable, uncountable] (especially North American English, law)
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  1. the act of killing another person, especially when it is a crime
    • He has been arrested on homicide and assault charges.
    • the homicide bureau (= the department of the US police that deals with murder)
    Homicide is a general term and can also refer to a killing that is not a crime, for example because the person was trying to defend themselves. There are also different degrees of criminal homicide, for example depending on whether the killing was deliberate or planned in advance. compare culpable homicide, femicide, justifiable homicide, manslaughter, murderTopics Crime and punishmentc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • criminal
    • culpable
    • negligent
    • …
    homicide + noun
    • detective
    • unit
    • investigation
    • …
    See full entry
    Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French, from Latin homicidium, from homo, homin- ‘man’.
See homicide in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee homicide in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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