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Genocidal

Genocidal is an adjective used to describe actions, policies, or campaigns intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The term is closely related to genocide, the crime defined in international law as the intentional destruction of such a group, in whole or in part, through acts such as killing members, causing serious harm, imposing conditions likely to bring about physical destruction, preventing births, or forcibly transferring children.

In legal and historical analysis, genocidal describes not only the acts themselves but also the intent behind

Etymology and usage: Genocide combines genos (race, people) and Latin caedere (to kill); the noun genocide entered

them—the
aim
of
eradicating
the
targeted
group.
It
is
used
to
characterize
state
policies,
military
campaigns,
or
systematic
abuses
that
meet
or
resemble
the
elements
of
genocide.
The
term
is
distinct
from
but
can
overlap
with
related
concepts
such
as
ethnic
cleansing,
which
centers
on
removal
or
expulsion
of
a
group
rather
than
destruction
of
the
group
as
such.
common
use
after
World
War
II,
with
the
term
and
its
definitions
refined
in
international
law
following
Raphael
Lemkin’s
work
in
1944.
The
adjective
genocidal,
then,
signals
that
actions
or
policies
are
aimed
at
destroying
a
protected
group
and
may
carry
legal
and
historical
implications
for
accountability
and
interpretation
of
events.