A substance or agent specifically designed to kill bed bugs and other insects in the Cimicidae family.
From cimex plus -cide (from Latin caedere, meaning to kill). This compound word follows the standard English pattern of combining insect names with -cide to name pesticides and insecticides.
The -cide suffix has exploded in meaning: homicide, pesticide, suicide, fungicide—it shows how Latin root words gave English a flexible toolkit for naming anything that 'kills' something else. It's language building itself in real-time!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.