self-murder

noun

Suicide.

OriginMiddle English *self-murther ← Old English selfmyrþere →
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Meanings

nounself-murder (countable and uncountable, plural self-murders)

plural self-murders

  1. countableuncountableSuicide.
    1 more example

    My mind being by these means grown as desperate as my fortune, there was scarce a wickedness which I did not meditate, in order for my relief. Self-murder itself became the subject of my serious deliberation; and I had certainly resolved on it, had not a more shameful, though perhaps less sinful, thought expelled it from my head.

    1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
self-annihilationsillycidesuicidesuicism

Origin

  1. Old Englishselfmyrþere“one who kills himself, a suicide”
  2. Middle English*self-murther
  3. Englishself-murder

From self- + murder, perhaps continuing Middle English *self-murther, from Old English selfmyrþere (“one who kills himself, a suicide”). Compare German Selbstmord, Dutch zelfmoord, Swedish självmord.

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

self-murder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-murder

MLA

“self-murder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-murder. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-murder,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-murder.

Source: self-murder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.