Definition of Domestic Terrorism
(noun) An act of terrorism practiced by an individual or group in their own country.
Examples of Domestic Terrorism
- Oklahoma City bombing at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States (1995)
- Tokyo Subway sarin attack in Japan (1995)
Domestic Terrorism Pronunciation
Syllabification: do·mes·tic ter·ror·ism
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /duh-mEs-tik tAIR-uhr-riz-uhm/
- British English – /duh-mE-stik tE-ruh-ri-zuhm/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /dəˈmɛstɪk ˈtɛrəˌrɪzəm/
- British English – /dəʊˈmɛstɪk ˈtɛrərɪzm/
Usage Notes
- Plural: domestic terrorisms
- Domestic terrorism is contrasted to international terrorism.
- Variant spelling: domestic-terrorism
- A (noun) domestic terrorist commits (adjective) domestic terroristic acts (adverb) domestic terroristically to create (noun) domestic terror.
Additional Information
- Terrorism Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “domestic” and “terrorism” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- agroterrorism
- bioterrorism
- chemical terrorism
- cyberterrorism
- ecoterrorism
- genocide
- international terrorism
- narcoterrorism
- State
- state-sponsored terrorism
- theoterrorism
Works Consulted
Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Taylor & Francis. (N.d.) Routledge Handbooks Online. (https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/).
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Wiley. (N.d.) Wiley Online Library. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/).
Cite the Definition of Domestic Terrorism
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “domestic terrorism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 25, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/domestic-terrorism/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
domestic terrorism. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/domestic-terrorism/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “domestic terrorism.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 25, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/domestic-terrorism/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“domestic terrorism.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/domestic-terrorism/>.