title: A necessary neologism: the origin and uses of suicide.
abstract: In English-speaking societies today the word suicide is the preferred term for self-inflicted death. But it has not always been so. Evidence recounted here suggests that suicide was devised by Sir Thomas Browne and first published in his book Religio Medici in 1643. Although little used at first, suicide had become established as noun and verb by the mid-18th century and was recognized by inclusion in Johnson's Dictionary. The modern world has seen an enormous increase in words and expressions derived from suicide, some of which are discussed here.
authors.affiliation: Southampton University, Royal South Hants Hospital, England.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Barraclough
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shepherd
mesh_terms: D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D013405:Suicide / Q000266:history*; D009626:Terminology as Topic