caedes

Caedes is a Latin noun meaning murder, slaughter, or carnage. It is a feminine word of the third declension and is commonly found in classical Latin, legal texts, and historical narratives to denote the taking of life, whether individual homicide or mass killing.

The word derives from the verb caedo, caedere, meaning to strike down, cut, or kill. In morphology, the singular is caedes (nominative) with genitive caedis, dative caedi, accusative caedem, and ablative caede. The plural retains the same nominative form, caedes, with genitive caedium, dative caedibus, accusative caedes, and ablative caedibus. In usage, caedes can describe personal murder, ritual or public killings, or large-scale slaughter in war or catastrophe, and it can appear in both literal and figurative senses.

In Roman law and literature, caedes often frames discussions of homicide and its consequences, including penalties and social impact. It appears in legal terminology as delicta or crimina relating to caedes, as well as in historical narrations of battles, executions, and massacres. The term is also found in poetry and oratory to emphasize violence or the destruction of people or communities.

Today, caedes is primarily of academic interest for studying ancient language, law, and history. It illustrates how early Latin distinguished intentional homicide and related violent harms, and it reflects broader themes of justice, public safety, and social order in antiquity. The word remains a common example in Latin dictionaries and linguistic discussions when examining the vocabulary of violence in classical texts.