self-extinction

noun

self-ex·​tinc·​tion ˌself-ik-ˈstiŋ(k)-shən 

plural self-extinctions

1

: the act of causing one's own extinction or the state of having caused one's own extinction

a civilization headed towards self-extinction

2

: suicide

… an escaped schizophrenic also wends his way there with self-extinction in mind …

—Chuck Twardy

Word History

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined at sense 1