This article examines how Latin-American intellectuals in Mexico and Costa Rica have reformulated the discourse on and definition of violence against women over the past 20 years. Its goal is to identify the defining strategies used in the concepts femicidio and feminicidio to denounce, conceptualize, and politicize violence experienced by women, especially in a private context. By combining inputs from sociology and linguistics, this article highlights the intersecting dynamics between the contexts of mobilization, discursive formulation of new concepts, and how new legal categories are brought to the public agenda.