Link Centre Dictionary

internecine

in·ter·ne·cine

UK/ˌɪntəˈniːsaɪn/ US/-sɪn/ uncommon

adjective

1.

(of conflict) within a group or organization

  • “an internecine feud among proxy holders”
Similar
2.

characterized by bloodshed and carnage for both sides

  • “internecine war”
Synonyms
Similar

Origin

Borrowed from Latin internecīnus (“deadly”), from internecium (“a massacre, bloodbath; an eradication”) + -īnus. In Latin, the sememe 'between' was here not expressed by the prefix, it instead either had a somewhat emphatic meaning or meant "down, under", comparable to its use in other Latin terms related to death: see interficiō and intereō. The English current sense is thus a reanalysis of the Latin through English inter-.

Phrases

  • mutual assured destruction

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.