Genocide refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, ethnic, national, or religious group. The term encompasses acts committed with the intent to annihilate, either in whole or in part, a particular group of people, through various means such as killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about their physical destruction.
The term "genocide" was coined in 1944 by Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin, combining the Greek word "genos" (meaning "family," "race," or "kind") with the Latin word "caedere" (meaning "to kill"). This was in response to the atrocities committed during World War II, particularly the Holocaust.