matricide means the killing of one's mother. It carries an Arena rating of 1633, earned across 8 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, matricide ranks #144 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #783 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #1,469 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #1,716 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words.
Why “matricide” is a great word
The deliberate, unlawful killing of one's own mother, or one who performs such an act. From French 'matricide', from Latin 'mātricīda' ("mother-killer") and 'mātricīdium' ("the murder of one's mother"), formed from 'māter' ("mother") + '-cīda' ("killer") / '-cīdium' ("killing"). First attested in English in the 1590s for the act and the 1630s for the person. Unlike patricide, which is a mirror-image crime against the father, or the broader, more clinical parricide, matricide names a singular severance. It is the primal cord cut with a blade, the irrevocable silencing of the first voice ever heard, and the ultimate betrayal of the womb that sourced one's own life—a crime that feels less like murder and more like a blasphemy against existence itself.
Etymology
From French matricide, from Latin mātricīda (“person who kills his own mother”) and mātricīdium (“the murder of one's mother”). By surface analysis, matri- + -cide.
noun
- The killing of one's mother.e.g.“Gerald was imprisoned for matricide: he strangled his mother.”
- A person who kills his or her mother.e.g.“Nancy was a matricide; it happened four years ago.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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