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felo-de-se

[ fel-oh-di-see, -sey ]

noun

, plural fe·lo·nes-de-se [fel, -, uh, -neez-di-, see, -, sey, f, uh, -, loh, -neez-], fe·los-de-se [fel, -ohz-di-, see, -, sey].
  1. a person who intentionally takes their own life, or commits an unlawful malicious act resulting in their own death.
  2. the act of suicide.


felo de se

/ ˈfiːləʊ dɪ ˈsiː; ˈfɛləʊ /

noun

  1. law
    1. suicide
    2. a person who commits suicide
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of felo-de-se1

First recorded in 1650–60; from Anglo-Latin, equivalent to felō “a felon” + “in respect to, of” + “oneself”; felon 1( def )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of felo-de-se1

C17: from Anglo-Latin, from felō felon + Latin of + oneself
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Example Sentences

Or felo de se; for in a case of suicide the acquittal of the deceased by a coroner's jury entitles him to Christian burial.

Of course Mr. Wharton had employed counsel, and of course the counsel's object had been to avoid a verdict of felo de se.

Is it not monstrous, then, that men could be found so lost to honor as to record a verdict of felo de se?

Yet when the verdict of felo de se had been returned, there had been murmurs in Court, at once sharply checked by the coroner.

By such conduct—revealing a tendency to bad manners—she commits felo de se as regards—well—a certain object she has in view.

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