English
internecine
Internecine comes from Latin internecīnus ‘deadly’, from internecium ‘a massacre, slaughter’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- ‘perish, disappear’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*neḱ-‘perish, disappear’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*neksreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnex‘murder, slaughter, killing, violent death’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnecō‘kill’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinternecō‘to kill, destroy’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinternecium‘a massacre, slaughter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinternecīnus‘deadly’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1900internecine
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*neḱ-‘perish, disappear’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*neksreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnex‘murder, slaughter, killing, violent death’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEnecō‘kill’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinternecō‘to kill, destroy’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinternecium‘a massacre, slaughter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinternecīnus‘deadly’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1900internecine
Earliest quotation: c. 1900, Mark Twain, Autobiography of Mark Twain: “During the year of my engagement — 1869 —…”
The story
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-.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- ‘perish, disappear’
innocent, innocence, nuisance, obnoxious, innocuous, noxious, nectar, necropolis, 18 more
Today it means
adj Mutually destructive; most often applied to warfare.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- / internecine