Killing Words Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wife by her spouse

The word uxoricide comes to us from two words in Latin - "uxor", which means "wife" and "caedere" which means "to cut, or to kill". Uxoricide is used to describe the situation when a man kills his wife or girlfriend. It might also be used as a label for the killer himself.

When a woman kills her husband or boyfriend, it is known as mariticide. Mariticide comes to us from two Latin words - "maritus", or "husband", and and "caedere", which means "to cut, or to kill".

Answer: Ticks and mites

Greek and Latin are the sources for this killing word. Acaricide comes from two words - "akari", a Greek word meaning "tick or mite", and "caedere", a Latin word that means "to cut, or to kill". Acaricides are broken down into further groups. Ixodicides are substances designed to kill ticks. Miticides are substances that target mites. Scabicides are designed to specifically target the skin mite that causes scabies in humans. Arachnicides will kill arachnids.

There are a variety of acaricides used in both human medicine and in agriculture. One unique way that they are used is to stop rhinoceros poaching. In wildlife refuges, holes are drilled into the anesthetized rhinos' horns and acaricides are pumped in under pressure and sealed into the horn. If the horn is removed from a poached rhino and consumed by people in traditional Chinese medical practices, it will cause nausea, stomach upset, diarrhea, or convulsions, depending on the quantity consumed, but it will not cause human death. If acaricides are used in refuges, signs are posted as a warning to potential poachers. The acaricides are safe for the rhinos, birds, and other creatures in the reserves.

Answer: Intestinal worms

A vermicide is a type of antihelminthic drug that is designed to rid a body of intestinal worms or parasites. The antihelminthic drugs are designed to either stun or kill the parasites, then have them expelled from the body during bowel movements. If they are designed to kill the worms, they are known as vermicides. Vermicides can be used to treat infected humans (typically children) and animals.

This word comes from the Latin "vermis" for "worm", and "caedere" which means "to cut, or to kill".

Answer: Mother

Matricide is the murder of a mother by her son or daughter. Most matricides occur when the children have at least reached adolescence. It is a very infrequent type of murder. In a study of killings in the US in 2010, about 2% of the total involved a mother being killed by her adult child.

According to etymologists , the word matricide was first used in English in the 16th century. It comes to us from a few Latin words - "matr, mater, or matricidium" for "mother", and "caedere" which means "to cut, or to kill".

Answer: The sense of a word

Words are meant to convey meaning. Some words have more than one meaning. These are known as homonyms. Examples include bark (tree bark and a dog's bark), pitcher (pitcher of water and baseball pitcher), and crane (the bird crane and the construction crane. When a word is deliberately distorted to change its meaning, this is known as verbicide. The word comes from the Latin "verbum" ("word") and "caedere" which means "to cut, or to kill".

An example of verbicide is punning where a word's original meaning is changed to make a joke. One of the first uses of the word verbicide is attributed to Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes who, in 1857, said, "Life and language are alike sacred. Homicide and verbicide--that is, violent treatment of a word with fatal results to its legitimate meaning, which is its life--are alike forbidden."

Answer: A prophet

Vaticide is a rare word that was first used in the 18th century to describe the murder of a prophet. If one aims to kill a prophet, they are said to be vaticical. This word is from two words in Latin - "vates" which means "seer, soothsayer, prophet, or prophetess" and "caedere" which means "to cut, or to kill".

Answer: One's own child

Filicide was first used in the mid-17th century to describe the murder of one's own child, regardless of the sex of the child. It is used to refer to the killing of both sons and daughters. The term filicide can be used when classifying the murders of both minors and adults. For example, Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels and his wife killed their children near the end of WWII. They ranged in age from four to twelve years. In another example, Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father during an argument. Gaye was 44 years old at the time of his death. Both of these murders are examples of filicide.

The word filicide comes to us from three Latin words - "filius" (son) and "filia" (daughter), as well as "caedere" which means "to cut, or to kill".

Answer: A god

The word deicide was first used in the 17th century. It comes to us from two words in Latin - "deicidium", which in turn was derives from "deus", meaning god, and "caedere" which means "to cut, or to kill". The word deicide is used in religious contexts, including contexts in which a god is killed, then resurrected.

Examples of deicide include the crucifixion of Christ in Christianity, the killing of Osiris by Set in Egyptian mythology (later resurrected by Isis), and in Norse mythology, Jörmungandr kills Thor by poisoning him, Fenrir kills Odin, while Heimdall and Loki kill each other.

Answer: King or Queen

A regicide occurs when a reigning king or queen is killed. In Great Britain, a precedent was set in 1649 when Charles I was executed. That execution is known as a judicial regicide because Charles I was tried and found guilty of treason by parliament, after which he was executed with the blessing of the government.

There have been many regicides over the years, including the executions of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of France (1793), assassination of Umberto I, King of Italy (1900), assassination of Carlos I, King of Portugal (1908), assassination of Emperor Nicholas II and his family of Russia (1918), and the assassination of Faisal I, Kingof Saudi Arabia (1975). The word regicide is from two words in Latin - "Rex" meaning "king" and "caedere" which means "to cut, or to kill".

Answer: Sibling

The word fratricide is used in a few ways. It can refer to an act where a person actually commits the murder of his or her own sister or brother. It can also mean hiring an assassin to murder one's own sister or brother. Finally, it can be used to describe the killing of one's own fellow soldiers during military action, also known as "friendly fire".

There are many examples of fratricide in religion and mythology. In the book of Genesis in the Bible, brothers Cain and Abel are required to make sacrifices to God. When God seems to favour Abel's sacrifice, Cain kills him in a jealous rage. In Roman myth, Romulus and Remus are twins. Romulus kills Remus, then forms Rome. The word fratricide come from two Latin words - "frater" meaning "brother" and "caedere" which means "to cut, or to kill".