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internecine

[in-ter-nee-seen, -sahyn, -nes-een, -nes-ahyn]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

of or pertaining to conflict or struggle within a group: an internecine feud among proxy holders.

mutually destructive.

characterized by great slaughter; deadly.

Also, in·ter·ne·cive

[in-ter-nee-siv, -nes-iv] .

Origin:
1655–65; < Latin internecīnus, internecīvus murderous, equivalent to internec(āre) to kill out, exterminate (inter- inter- + necāre to kill) + -īnus -ine¹, -īvus -ive

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Internecine is always a great word to know.

So is zedonk. Does it mean:

a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.

the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.

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Example Sentences

But some question whether the swift social reorganization could lead to internecine war.

Sure, there were the internecine backstabbings and poison-pen missives we've come to expect of this process.

The party seems likely to end up with a respectable, mainstream nominee, and no internecine warfare to recover from.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

internecine (ˌɪntəˈniːsaɪn)

—*adj*
1.	mutually destructive or ruinous; maiming both or all sides: internecine war
2.	of or relating to slaughter or carnage; bloody
3.	of or involving conflict within a group or organization

[C17: from Latin internecīnus, from internecāre to destroy, from necāre to kill]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

internecine

1663, from L. internecinus "very deadly, murderous, destructive," from internecare "kill or destroy," from inter- (q.v.) + necare "kill." Considered in the OED as misinterpreted in Johnson's Dictionary [1755], which defined it as "endeavouring mutual destruction," on association of inter- with "mutual"

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when the prefix supposedly is used in this case as an intensive. From Johnson, wrongly or not, has come the main modern definition of "mutually destructive."

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infighting

Matching Quote

"I was surprised to find that the chips were covered with such combatants, that it was not a duellum, but a bellum, a war between two races of ants, the red always pitted against the black, and frequently two red ones to one black. The legions of these Myrmidons covered all the hills and vales in my wood-yard, and the ground was already strewn with the dead and dying, both red and black. It was the only battle which I have ever witnessed, the only battlefield I ever trod while the battle was raging; internecine war; the red republicans on the one hand, and the black imperialists on the other. On every side they were engaged in deadly combat, yet without any noise that I could hear, and human soldiers never fought so resolutely.... The more you think of it, the less the difference. And certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment's comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed."

-Henry David Thoreau

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internecine

in·ter·ne·cine