Jump To:

• felo-de-se
  felo-de-se

  noun

  a person who intentionally takes their own life, or commits an unlawful malicious act resulting in their own death.
• felo de se
  felo de se

  noun

  law

felo-de-se

American  

[fel-oh-di-see, -sey] / ˈfɛl oʊ dɪˈsi, -ˈseɪ /

noun

• felones-de-se,
  plural
• felos-de-se
  plural

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 British  

/ ˈfiːləʊ dɪ ˈsiː, ˈfɛləʊ- /

noun

1. law

   1. suicide

   2. a person who commits suicide

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• felones-de-se
  plural
• felos-de-se
  plural

Etymology

Origin of felo-de-se

First recorded in 1650–60; from Anglo-Latin, equivalent to felō “a felon” + dē “in respect to, of” + sē “oneself”; see origin at felon ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

felo-de-se felo de se

A full account of Wakley’s parliamentary ratting, or political felo-de-se; beautifully authenticated by his late Finsbury electors—with sundry cuts by his former friends.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, November 13, 1841 by Various

It would be reckoned a gross breach of good manners to scandalize the refined and liberal administration of the Kursaal by undisguised felo-de-se.

From The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims Volume I (of II) by Andrew Steinmetz

He was cut down before life was extinct, and on recovery was prosecuted for felo-de-se.

From Reminiscences of a South African Pioneer by W. C. (William Charles) Scully

This verdict," the coroner then said, "entailed the same consequences as an act of felo-de-se, and he felt that he could not give a warrant for the burial of the deceased.

From A Shepherd's Life Impressions of the South Wiltshire Downs by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson

The coroner's verdict being felo-de-se, the body was not taken into the chapel, but a clergyman met it at the gate and led the way to the grave.

From The Christian A Story by Sir Hall Caine

A Prerogative that tendeth to the Dissolution of all Laws must be void in itself, felo de se; for a Prerogative is a Law.

From A Character of King Charles the Second by George Savile, Marquis of Halifax

The verdict was felo de se, and the body of poor Sellis was buried in a cross road!

From Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 3 by Henry Hunt

A jury of Westminster tradesmen brought in a verdict of felo de se against Sellis.

From The Works of Lord Byron, Vol. 7. Poetry by Ernest Hartley Coleridge

The coroner’s jury returned a verdict of felo de se.

From A Changed Man; and other tales by Thomas Hardy

With all respect for those by whom this opinion has been professed, I am constrained to regard it as utterly untenable, as palpably inconsistent, and as presenting in argument a complete felo de se.

From Report of the Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Opinions of the Judges Thereof, in the Case of Dred Scott versus John F.A. Sandford December Term, 1856. by Benjamin C. Howard