-cide

The combining form –cide is used like a suffix meaning “killer” or “act of killing.” It is often used in a variety of scientific and technical terms.

The form –cide ultimately comes from Latin caedere, meaning “to kill, to strike down.”

What are variants of –cide?

While –cide does not have any variants, it is related to the combining form –cidal, which is used to form adjectives that correspond to nouns ending in –cide, as in patricidal. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use article on –cidal.

An example of a word you may have encountered that features –cide is pesticide, also known as a biocide, “a chemical preparation for destroying plant, fungal, or animal pests.”

The pest– part of the word means “pest,” from Latin pestis, meaning “plague.” A pest is an insect or other organism that causes destruction or illness. The –cide part of the word means “killer.” Pesticide literally translates to “pest killer.”

What are some words that use or are related to the combining form –cide?

• cytocide
• fungicide
• genocide
• homicide (using the equivalent form of –cide in Latin)
• oxyuricide
• patricide
• regicide
• spermicide
• suicide

What are some other forms that –cide may be commonly confused with?

• -cion
• -cline
• -cule
• -cyte

The combining form cyto– means “cell.” With this in mind, what does the scientific term cytocide literally mean?