self-slaughter
See also: selfslaughter
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
1595, self- + slaughter, possibly taken as a shortening of the phrase against self-slaughter (“slaughter against oneself”). Compare Old English selfcwalu (“suicide”).
Noun
self-slaughter (countable and uncountable, plural self-slaughters)
- The slaughter or slaying of oneself; suicide.
- Against self-slaughter, There is a prohibition so divine, That cravens my weak hand. --Shak., Cymbeline