suicide (English)
Where does "suicide" come from?
First appearing in the 17th century, the word 'suicide' was coined from the Latin components 'sui' (of oneself) and '-cīdium' (an act of killing). This term eventually displaced the native English compound 'self-cwalu' (self-slaughter), which traced back to Old English. Its roots extend deep into Proto-Indo-European, combining the reflexive pronoun *swé and the verb root *kh₂eyd-, meaning 'to cut.'
Full etymology tree
- suicide (English), 'The act of intentionally killing oneself.'
- derived suicidium (Latin), 'suicide'
- compound sui (Latin), 'the genitive of the reflexive pronoun meaning of himself, of herself, of itself, of themselves, one another, each other, etc.'
- inherited *swé (Proto-Indo-European), 'self (reflexive pronoun)'
- compound -cīdium (Latin), 'Denotes an act of killing or a slaughter'
- compound -cīda (Latin), 'Noun-forming suffix denoting “one who kills” or “one who cuts” from noun stems.'
- derived caedō (Latin), 'to cut, hew, fell'
- inherited *kaidō (Proto-Italic), 'to cut, hew, fell'
- inherited *keh₂id- (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *kaidō (Proto-Italic), 'to cut, hew, fell'
- derived caedō (Latin), 'to cut, hew, fell'
- suffix -ium (Latin), 'Suffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes denoting offices and groups. May no longer be productive.'
- compound -cīda (Latin), 'Noun-forming suffix denoting “one who kills” or “one who cuts” from noun stems.'
- compound sui (Latin), 'the genitive of the reflexive pronoun meaning of himself, of herself, of itself, of themselves, one another, each other, etc.'
- derived suicidium (Latin), 'suicide'
Direct ancestors
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris