The killing or slaughter of cattle, or the deliberate destruction of cattle herds.
From Latin bos (ox, cattle) + -cide (kill, killing). Constructed following the pattern of other -cide words like homicide and genocide, meaning the killing of a specific category.
Bovicide entered English during agricultural crises and wars—when armies destroyed enemy cattle herds, or disease required mass slaughter, the term precisely captured this specific tragedy of wartime destruction.
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