Homicide
Homicide is the killing of one person by another. It includes unlawful killings and killings permitted or justified by law.
Murder: The unlawful killing of a person with the culpability required by a jurisdiction’s criminal law. Murder is one unlawful category of homicide, not a synonym for every killing.
Death: The irreversible cessation of the biological functions that sustain an organism. Death is the outcome homicide may cause, but it does not by itself establish a killing by another.
Forensic pathology: The medical specialty that investigates death and injury for legal purposes. Autopsies can establish cause and manner of death in suspected homicide cases.
Homicide rate: The number of homicides in a population over a specified period, often expressed per 100,000 people. Rates allow comparisons of lethal violence across places and time periods.
Manslaughter: A criminal homicide offense generally distinguished from murder by reduced culpability or mitigating circumstances. It captures unlawful homicides that do not meet the legal definition of murder.
Suicide: The act of intentionally causing one’s own death. It is a death caused by oneself, rather than a killing of one person by another.
Cause of death: The disease, injury, or other event that initiates the sequence leading to death. Determining the cause distinguishes a fatal injury from unrelated circumstances.
Intentional homicide: The unlawful death purposefully inflicted by one person on another, as defined in international crime statistics. This statistical category enables cross-national comparisons distinct from broader legal usage.
Justifiable homicide: A killing that the law permits or excuses under specified circumstances, such as lawful self-defense. It shows that some homicides are not criminal offenses.
Assault: An intentional threat or use of force against another person, defined differently across legal systems. Assault can be violent without causing death, unlike homicide.