What term refers to a deliberate act of killing oneself?

The term that refers to a deliberate act of killing oneself is suicide. This term derives from the Latin "sui" meaning "of oneself" and "caedere" meaning "to kill." When someone engages in this act, it indicates a conscious decision to end one's own life, often stemming from various emotional, psychological, or situational factors.

In contrast, a suicidal gesture refers to actions that may be intended to cause harm or to express distress but do not necessarily result in death, often viewed as a cry for help. Suicidal ideation is the process of thinking about or planning suicide, which again, involves thoughts rather than actions. Survivor guilt, on the other hand, arises when someone feels guilt over surviving a traumatic experience in which others did not, and is not related to the act of suicide itself. Thus, suicide is the precise term that directly denotes the act of taking one's own life.