An atrocity (from the Latinatrox, "atrocious", from Latin ater = "matte black" (as distinct from niger = "shiny black")) is a term used to describe crimes ranging from an act committed against a single person to one committed against a population or ethnic group.
In general use, an atrocity or massacre designates a politically or ethnically motivated killing of civilians. In international law, more precise terms are war crime and crime against humanity.
An atrocity can be a single specific event, or a series of events, or can refer to genocide. The defining characteristic of an atrocity is its brutal or systematic nature. It is an act of killing that is in violation of most traditional moral principles, although some societies do not condemn such behavior. Often, hostilities exceed the legitimate mandate of killing enemy combatants to include attacks upon unarmed or otherwise non-combative peoples. Thus, nearly every culture has in its history acts of killing which are atrocities.
An atrocity (from the Latin atrox, "atrocious", from Latin ater = "matte fl" (as distinct from niger = "shiny fl")) is a term used to describe crimes ranging from an act committed against a single person to one committed against a population or ethnic group.
An atrocity can be a single specific event, or a series of events, or can refer to genocide.
In modern settings not involving ethnic conflict, atrocities on individual leaders are rare, partially because they tend backfire or simply escalate, as in the case of Breaker Morant.
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