infanticide

infanticide

1. the killing of infants soon after they are born. Several reasons have been identified for the practice of infanticide, especially in nonindustrial societies:
   1. a means of population control, particularly in times of trouble such as FAMINE or war;
   2. a means of eliminating children with undesirable or unacceptable characteristics, such as disabled or sick children. Plato proposed infanticide as an ideal, and the infanticide of ‘defective’ children was practised in Sparta;
   3. a means of eliminating children whose birth is considered TABOO, such as breech births and twins;
   4. a means of reinforcing patriarchal values and behaviour; in many nonindustrial societies it was the practice to kill, or allow to die, many more girls than boys.
2. (in English law) the manslaughter of a child under the age of 12 months by the child's mother, according to the Infanticide Act of 1938.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000

Infanticide

Infertility (See BARRENNESS.)

Infidelity (See ADULTERY, CUCKOLDRY, FAITHLESSNESS.)

Astyanax

Hector’s infant son, thrown from the walls of Troy by the Greeks. [Gk. Myth.: Hamilton, 289]

Cronos

warned that a son would dethrone him, swallowed all his children at birth. [Gk. Myth.: Benét, 237]

Sorrel, Hetty

leaves her illegitimate infant to die. [Br. Lit.: Eliot Adam Bede]

Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.