suicide

Definition

The act of intentionally killing oneself.

Etymology

First attested in Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (1643) in noun sense 1, ostensibly from New Latin suīcīdium, from suī (genitive reflexive pronoun) + -cīdium (“act of killing or murder”), but often believed to have originated in English before entering Latin. Displaced native Middle English seolf-cwale from Old English selfcwalu (literally “self-slaughter”), after which suicide may have been modelled, or calqued (compare manuscript). Noun sense 3 is perhaps by analogy with words like homicide, patricide (see -cide), or, although unlikely, from Medieval Latin suīcīda; see the Etymology section at suīcīdium.

Example Sentences

• "As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."
• "The cowardice of suicide was abhorrent to him."
• "I realize and I can see / That suicide is painless / It brings on many changes / And I can take or leave it if I please"

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