noun

suicide

suicide

He attempted suicide twice.

He attempted suicide twice.

It was political suicide to oppose the new law.

It was political suicide to oppose the new law.

commit suicide to kill oneself He attempted to commit suicide.

a suicide attempt an act of trying to kill oneself It was his second suicide attempt.

Synonyms: self-destruction

From Latin 'sui' (of oneself) + '-cidium' (a killing), a derivative of 'caedere' (to kill). Literally 'self-killing'.

Break it down: 'sui-' means 'self' and '-cide' means 'to kill'. It's the same '-cide' as in homicide (killing a human) or pesticide (killing pests).

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