Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

suicide

/ˈsuɪˌsaɪd/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.62 in modern English

Syllables
su-i-cide
IPA
/ˈsuɪˌsaɪd/
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The act of intentionally killing oneself.

Uncountable

noun

A particular instance of a person intentionally killing oneself, or of multiple people doing so.

Countable

noun

A person who has intentionally killed themself.

Countable

noun

An action that could cause the literal or figurative death of a person or organization, although death may not be the aim of the action.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A beverage combining all available flavors at a soda fountain.

American usage; Countable; Slang

noun

A diabolo trick where one of the sticks is released and allowed to rotate 360° round the diabolo until it is caught by the hand that released it.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A run comprising a series of sprints of increasing lengths, each followed immediately by a return to the start, with no pause between one sprint and the next.

Countable

noun

A children's game of throwing a ball against a wall and at other players, who are eliminated by being struck.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

Etymology

First attested in Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (1643) in noun sense 1, ostensibly from New Latin suīcīdium, from suī (genitive reflexive pronoun) + -cīdium (“act of killing or murder”), but often believed to have originated in English before entering Latin. Displaced native Middle English seolf-cwale from Old English selfcwalu (literally “self-slaughter”), after which suicide may have been modelled, or calqued (compare manuscript). Noun sense 3 is perhaps by analogy with words like homicide, patricide (see -cide), or, although unlikely, from Medieval Latin suīcīda; see the Etymology section at suīcīdium.

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈsuɪˌsaɪd/
  • British English: /ˈs(j)uːɪˌsaɪd/

Usage

Inflected Forms

suicides (plural) suicides (present, singular) suiciding (participle, present) suicided (participle, past) suicided (past)

Derived Forms

antisuicide bullycide cybersuicide desuicide ethnosuicide medicide murdercide nonsuicide parasuicide postsuicide presuicide prosuicide

Phrases

assisted suicide career suicide commit suicide double suicide double-suicide infinite suicide mass suicide murder by suicide

Frequently Paired Words

filicide fratricide herbicide infanticide insecticide matricide neonaticide parricide

Synonyms

an hero autocide self-killer self-murderer self-slayer suicide suicidee suicider suicidist graveyard swamp water catch the bus

Questions

How do you pronounce suicide?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈsuɪˌsaɪd/.
What does suicide mean?
The act of intentionally killing oneself.
Where does suicide come from?
First attested in Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (1643) in noun sense 1, ostensibly from New Latin suīcīdium, from suī (genitive reflexive pronoun) + -cīdium (“act of killing or murder”), but often believed to have originated in English before entering Latin. Displaced native Middle English seolf-cwale from Old English selfcwalu (literally “self-slaughter”), after which suicide may have been modelled, or calqued (compare manuscript). Noun sense 3 is perhaps by analogy with words like homicide, patricide (see -cide), or, although unlikely, from Medieval Latin suīcīda; see the Etymology section at suīcīdium.

How to pronounce suicide

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “suicide”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈsuɪˌsaɪd/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “suicide”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “suicide” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.