The etymological root of the word "violence"
comes from the middle latin word "vim,"
which we still use today when we speak of "vim and vigor."
In South Africa, there's a bathroom cleanser called "Vim."
And also from the latin "uis" meaning strength.
And according to Eric Partridge, who wrote the book on etymology,
strength especially as exercised against someone.
The word "violence" also has a Indo-European root,
meaning force, and again, according to Partridge,
especially rape.
So what we are looking at here when we look at violence
is a combination of aggression and othering.
It's aggression performed on an other.
The other could be oneself actually.
The World Health Organization lists the causes of violent death
and among them it lists suicide.
From a Buddhist point of view, aggression refers to
rejecting the experience of this moment.
So the other could be very very intimate.
The other on whom we practice aggression.
