Internecine

[Agback]

G'day

A lot of people these days seem to use the phrase 'internecine conflict' as though it meant 'internal conflict'. It doesn't. 'Internecine conflict' is a fight to the death. The Latin source of the word, spelled variously 'internecnus' and 'internecvus', meant “fought to the death, murderous.” It is a derivative of the verb 'necre', “to kill.” The prefix inter- was here used not in the usual sense “between, mutual” but rather as an intensifier meaning “all the way, to the death.”

Merry Christmas,


Agback

 

[shilsen]

Actually, both of those meanings are correct. The root of a word doesn't always signal all the meanings it may have in its modern usage. So your point is moot (how's that for a word where the root and the correct usage(s) don't correlate?).

 

[Squire James]

Sort of like "ultimate" is taken to mean "best" when it actually means "last". "Penultimate" is apparently mostly used by people who don't know it's meaning, which is "second last".

 

[Piratecat]

I can't believe you're focusing on this and not on "its/it's" errors. Either way, I'll slide this into Off Topic.

 

[Doug McCrae]

You know what bugs me the most? Spelling rogue 'rouge'. On the WotC boards I believe the misspelling is actually more common than the correct version.

PS Internecine's a good word. I plan to use it more often from now on. And always incorrectly.

 

[tarchon]

G'day

A lot of people these days seem to use the phrase 'internecine conflict' as though it meant 'internal conflict'. It doesn't. 'Internecine conflict' is a fight to the death. The Latin source of the word, spelled variously 'internecnus' and 'internecvus', meant “fought to the death, murderous.” It is a derivative of the verb 'necre', “to kill.” The prefix inter- was here used not in the usual sense “between, mutual” but rather as an intensifier meaning “all the way, to the death.”

It doesn't refer to a "fight to the death" in the usual sense. "Internecine" primarily means "bringing death to both sides," usually in sense of having a high rate of deaths in both groups involved in a conflict. It's very rarely used to describe single combat. Somewhat secondarily in modern usage, it indicates that the conflict is generally highly destructive.
Not to be picky... OK, to be picky, your Latin is incorrect in several particulars, as well as the diction advice. I mean, OK, if people want to post inaccurate grammar corrections, I guess the world won't come to an end, but it's not that hard to look it up in a dictionary first.
Verb: "internecare" - to kill, destroy, though "interficere" and "necare" are more common.
Adjectives: "internecinus", "internecivus" ("internecine" and *"internecive")- not alternate spellings but different adjectives, like "fictive" and "fictional."

 

[shilsen]

I can't believe you're focusing on this and not on "its/it's" errors. Either way, I'll slide this into Off Topic.

Believe me, I had to restrain myself. And fight off the siren call of "there/their" as well.