iatrocide

I1A1T1R1O1C3I1D2E1
/aɪˈætɹəˌsaɪd/

noun

The act of killing a patient by medical treatment.

Scrabble 12

Meanings

nouniatrocide (countable and uncountable, plural iatrocides)

plural iatrocides

  1. countableuncountableThe act of killing a patient by medical treatment.

    And we know that iatrocide without consent is one of the choices that doctors have when it comes to our treatment.

    2016 December 1, Jack London, “Iatrocide — death at the hands of a doctor”, in Australian Morning Mail
    2 more examples

    Actually, when all of the facts and figures are taken into consideration, as Dr. Null illustrates, the cheerleaders for iatrocide are yelling “We're Number One!”

    2019, Robert G. Wright, Killing Cancer - Not People, page 316

    Death by doctor is now the third leading cause of death in the US health system. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, iatrocide is running at around 250,000 deaths per annum.

    2002, Fintan Dunne, Dr. Jekyll and the Patient, Mr. Hyde

Origin

From iatro- (“doctor”) + -cide (“murder”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

iatrocide. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iatrocide

MLA

“iatrocide.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iatrocide. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “iatrocide,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/iatrocide.

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