felones de se
Felones de se (noun, plural form; singular: felon de se) - A legal term from English common law meaning "felons of themselves." It refers to individuals who commit suicide, historically considered a criminal act (self-murder) and thus treated as felons. In modern usage, it is archaic and primarily used in historical or legal contexts.
- (They were legally classified as criminals who killed themselves.)
- (The official finding designated the deceased as a self-felon.)
"to be found a felon de se": to be officially determined as having committed suicide in a legal sense.
- The jury concluded that the man was a felon de se, leading to the confiscation of his estate. (The legal ruling deemed his suicide a felony.)
Historical context: The term contrasts with non compos mentis (not of sound mind), where suicide was not penalized if the person was deemed insane.
- If the deceased was judged insane, they were not considered a felon de se. (Insanity exempted them from the criminal classification.)
Felon de se (singular): a person who commits suicide, viewed as a felon.
- The records show only one felon de se in the parish that year. (One suicide classified as a felony.)
Self-murder (noun): an older term for suicide, emphasizing its criminal nature.
- Self-murder was historically treated as a grave sin and crime. (Suicide was considered both a religious and legal offense.)
- Suicide: the act of intentionally causing one's own death (modern, neutral term).
- Self-slaughter: an archaic or literary term for suicide.
- Felo de se: variant spelling of the same term.
To die by one's own hand: to commit suicide.
- He died by his own hand, but the modern view avoids the stigma of felones de se. (He killed himself, but today it is not treated as a crime.)
To be one's own executioner: to take one's own life.
- In old law, being one's own executioner made one a felon de se. (Suicide was legally equated with self-execution.)