What is the Latin word for kill?

The usual Latin words for “kill” are interficiō, perimō, interimō; also iugulō, trucīdō, obtruncō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“kill” in Latin

interficiōto kill, destroy, assassinate, slay perimōto annihilate, extinguish, destroy; to hinder, prevent; to kill, slay interimōto do away with, abolish; to destroy; to slay, kill iugulōto slay, kill, slit the throat of trucīdōto slaughter, massacre, cut to pieces, kill in a cruel way; to demolish, destroy, ruin obtruncōto kill, slaughter, cut down; to trim, prune percutiōto strike, beat; to make an impression on the mind, touch, please, delight, astonish, shock; to kill cōnficiōto prepare, accomplish, complete, execute; settle, close a bargain; traverse; to produce, cause, bring about, effect, se ēnecōto kill, slay; to exhaust, wear out tollōto raise, lift up, elevate; to remove, take away, steal, rob; to destroy, eliminate, annul

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

kill

interficere: perimere (the most general expressions for putting to death, in whatever manner, and from whatever motive, fame, veneno, suspendlo, ferro, suppliciis, dolo, like κτείνειν; but interficere as a usual, perimere as an old, forcible, poetical expression): interimere (involves the accessory notion of privacy, as to remove out of the way, ἀναιρεῖν): necare (with in justice, or, at least, cruelty; to murder. φονεύειν) occidere: jugulare: trucidare: obtruncare: percutere (denote a sanguinary death-blow; occidere, by cutting down, especially of the soldier, in honorable, open battle; jugulare, by cutting the throat or neck, or, rather, by a skillfully-directed thrust into the collar-bone, especially the business of a bandit, after the pattern of the gladiator, like σφάξαι; obtruncare means to butcher, massacre, and cut to pieces, after the manner of the awkward murderer; trucidare, to slaughter as one would an ox, after the manner of the blood-thirsty miscreant; percutere, to execute, as a mere mechanical act, after the manner of the headsman, or other executioner of a sentence of condemnation, or, at least, of a death-warrant, Döderlein): conficere (to make an end of; only of those who offer resistance): enecare (*strengthened necare): tollere: e medio tollere (to make away with him): vitam adimere alicui: aliquem vita or luce privare (to take away his life). I know by whose contrivance, but not by whose hands he was killed, cujus consilio occisus sit invenio; cujus manu percussus sit, non invenio (Cic.): to wish to kill anybody, alicujus vitae insidiari; vitam alicujus ferro atque insidiis appetere; alicui interitum parare; aliquem or alicujus occidendi consilium inire: to conspire together to kill anybody, de aliquo interficiendo conjurare: to kill one’s self [Vid: “to commit SUICIDE”].

IMPROPR., To kill the time, horas or tempus perdere.

PROV. To shoot at the pigeon and kill the crow, ferire, quem nolueris: to kill two birds with one stone, de eādem fidelia duos parietes dealbare (= to do two things at once; Curio ap. Cic., Fam., 7, 29, fin.); una mercede duas res assequi; uno saltu duos apros capere (= to gel two advantages by one stroke; Cic., Rosc. Am., 29, 80; Plaut., Cas., 2, 8, 40).

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for kill?: The usual Latin words for “kill” are interficiō, perimō, interimō; also iugulō, trucīdō, obtruncō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.