Etymologically
Log in

suicidal

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 02:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌsuː.ɪˈsaɪ.dəl/, /ˌsjuː.ɪˈsaɪ.dəl/[1]
  • US: /ˌsu.əˈsaɪ.dəl/, /ˌsu.ɪ-/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English suicide + -al.[2][3][4][5][6] The OED compares the earlier suicidical,[2] and Etymonline notes that Horace Walpole wrote the form suicidial in a letter of 1755.[5] suicide is from New Latin suicidium, formed from Latin suī (“of oneself”) and -cīdium (“a killing”).[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Disastrously damaging to oneself or one's own interests: 1768, in a letter of George Canning.[2] Etymonline dates the word to 1777, also in this figurative sense,[5] and Dictionary.com to 1770–80.[8]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, self-destructive or dangerously rash, came first.[2][5][3] The sense "relating to suicide" is recorded from 1794,[2] and the word was used of a person inclined to kill himself or herself from 1826;[2] Etymonline dates the literal sense to 1837,[5] the year Merriam-Webster gives as its first known use.[4] From 1800 it also described a person or animal acting with reckless disregard for its own survival.[2]

Timeline

  • 1768 – disastrously damaging to one's own interests.[2]
  • 1794 – relating to or involving suicide.[2]
  • 1800 – of a person or animal, dangerously reckless.[2]
  • 1826 – of a person, inclined to suicide.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Relating to or involving suicide; of a person, wanting or likely to kill himself or herself: suicidal thoughts.[9][4][2]
  2. Likely to destroy one's own interests or prospects; dangerously rash or self-destructive: Attacking at night would be suicidal.[9][4][2]

Word family

  • suicidally
  • pseudosuicidal

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  9. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins