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felo-de-se

[fel-oh-di-see, -sey]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR felo-de-se ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural fe·lo·nes-de-se [fel-uh-neez-di-see, -sey, fuh-loh-neez-] /ˈfɛl əˌniz dɪˈsi, -ˈseɪ, fəˈloʊ niz-/, fe·los-de-se [fel-ohz-di-see, -sey] /ˈfɛl oʊz dɪˈsi, -ˈseɪ/.

a person who commits suicide or commits an unlawful malicious act resulting in his or her own death.
the act of suicide.

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RELATED WORDS

hara-kiri, self-destruction, self-immolation, seppuku

Nearby words

  1. fellowly,
  2. fellowman,
  3. fellowship,
  4. felly,
  5. felo de se,
  6. felon,
  7. felonious,
  8. feloniously,
  9. felonry,
  10. felony

Origin of felo-de-se

1645–55; < Anglo-Latin, equivalent to felō a felon + dē in respect to, of + sē oneself
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for felo-de-se

  • Felo-de-se, in English law the crime which a man at the age of discretion and of a sound mind commits when he takes away his life.

    The Nuttall Encyclopaedia|Edited by Rev. James Wood
Word Origin and History for felo-de-se

felo-de-se

n.

Latin, "suicide," literally "one guilty concerning himself."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper