geocide

ge·o·cide
G2E1O1C3I1D2E1
UK/ˈd͡ʒiːəʊsaɪd/

noun

The destruction of the earth, its ecosystems, or some part thereof, due to human activity.

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Meanings

noungeocide (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe destruction of the earth, its ecosystems, or some part thereof, due to human activity.

    [D]estruction of any species or the serious impairment of any part of the global environment should be seen as geocide, which deprives humans of their right to a healthy environment.

    1993 fall, Lynn Berat, “Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment: Toward a Crime of Geocide in International Law”, in Boston University International Law Journal, volume 11, Boston, Mass.: Boston University School of Law, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 343
    3 more examples

    [T]here is the inability of the Christian world to respond in any effective way to the destruction of the planet. […] There is this terrible lack of concern for biocide or geocide. We have no moral principles to deal with them. […] Somehow, when I was quite young, I saw the beginning of biocide and geocide.

    1991, Thomas Berry; Thomas Clarke; Stephen Dunn and Anne Lonergan, editors, Befriending the Earth: A Theology of Reconciliation between Humans and the Earth, Mystic, Conn.: Twenty-Third Publications, ISBN 978-0-89622-471-1; quoted in Cristina Vanin, “Attaining Harmony with the Earth”, in John C. Haughey, editor, In Search of the Whole: Twelve Essays on Faith and Academic Life, Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1-58901-781-8, page 184

    Two common terms used to characterize injuries to the environment include “geocide” and “ecocide,” terms particularly applicable to rain forest damage because it is irreparable.

    1997, Virginia Journal of International Law, volume 38, page 377

    It has also been suggested that environmental crimes might include the proposed crime of ‘ecocide’ or ‘geocide’, with proponents of this view attempting to draw parallels between destructive acts towards the environment and those against the qualifying groups for genocide. […] [M]any who advocate for the creation of either ecocide or geocide principally argue that the best place to try such crimes is through an apparatus created in a separate and environment-oriented treaty.

    2013, Alexandra R. Harrington, “The Crime of Aggression and Threats to the Future”, in Sébastien Jodoin, Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, editors, Sustainable Development, International Criminal Justice, and Treaty Implementation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 161–162

    Synonyms: ecocide

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe destruction of the earth, its ecosystems, or some part thereof, due to human activity.

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Cite this entry
APA

geocide. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/geocide

MLA

“geocide.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/geocide. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “geocide,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/geocide.

Source: geocide on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.