Regicide anyone

[pbray]

Today's question: Can regicide be applied to someone who murders an emperor? The dictionaries seem pretty firm on the term applying to someone who kills a king, but a few google searches turn it up in articles about assassinating an emperor.

If it only applies to kings, what is the imperial equivalent?

P.S. Why am I obsessing about this when I should be writing?

Writing: 1,015 words on Saturday. Stay tuned for today's report.

Reading: Finished DISAPPEARING NIGHTLY by Laura Resnick. Overall the book was a fun romp, with an intriguing cast of characters. My one nitpick is that the mystery element was barely there--it took far too long for heroine and her helpers to identify the obvious suspects. If you want a mystery look elsewhere. If you're looking for a screwball comedy with a hint of romance, then this is an excellent choice.

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Off-the-wall response (no research) -- most emperors (or female equivalents) are also kings of this or that. Victoria was the Queen-Empress, for example. Queen of England, Scotland, etc, and Empress of the British Empire. Will that help?

[dancingwriter.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you'd find it in a standard dictionary (because I am too lazy to go look at mine right now), but I would posit the imperial equivalent of regicide to be impericide ("imperator" is Latin for emperor, just as "regi-" comes from Latin rex, "king"). And the Latin roots remind me that although, as the previous commenter mentions, many emperors have also been kings, the Roman and Byzantine emperors (and the Chinese and Japanese as well, I believe) were not. So the applicability of "regicide" for an emperor would depend on the culture and government you're writing about.

How's that for a long-winded answer to a simple question? :-)

[fancythat2.livejournal.com]

I was going to mention the root words thing too.

[shadowhelm.livejournal.com]

Nice time waster.

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

Interestingly enough, the full OED does not list impericide as a word, or as a word that was ever used. But if you were to create a word it would certainly make a lot of sense.

I was just thinking they tended to call it a "power change" and not much else, myself.....

I don't think regicide would work, because the rank of an emperor was actually superior to a kingship.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Something to think about, anyway.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'd considered impericide but it just doesn't sound as cool. Regicide sounds menacing, impericide sounds like something you use to cure toenail fungus.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

>>I don't think regicide would work, because the rank of an emperor was actually superior to a kingship.


That's where I'm stuck myself. But there ought to be a cool word, though impericide is definitely lacking in that department.

I'm using it as a noun, as in the person who kills an emperor. So if I can't use regicide I think it's back to assassin.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's a nice change from freecell, my usual diversion.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

With the Chinese and Japanese cases, I think we meet a problem in translation. Japan, at least, didn't have kings, and I don't think the Chinese did.

Did the Roman and Byzantine Empires have the sub-rank? My Latin courses are ancient, but I only remember rex and regis and regina applied to outside groups. Rome went directly from Republic to Empire, without being a kingdom.

Not nitpicking -- pedantry can be a sport...

[pbray.livejournal.com]

There's always a use for pedantry.

Since this is an invented culture, I make the rules, but it's heavily Roman empire based so we're talking about an Emperor who doesn't have subranks. Those in direct line of succession have the courtesy title of Prince, but the only kings mentioned so far have been foreign barbarians.

Regicide is a cool sounding word, but it doesn't work. Though, you think the Romans would have invented a specific word for "the man (or men) who offed our emperor" seeing as it was a common occurence.

[dancingwriter.livejournal.com]

LOL--you're right, it does! I haven't been able to think of anything better, though....