'autocide' originates from a hybrid formation combining Greek 'auto-' meaning 'self' and the Latin-derived combining element '-cide' ultimately from Latin 'caedere' meaning 'to kill'.

'auto-' traces to Greek 'αὐτός (autos)' meaning 'self', while '-cide' comes via Latin 'caedere' ('to kill') and late Latin/Old French combining forms (seen in words like 'suicide' and 'genocide'); the modern English combining form '-cide' was used to coin 'autocide' as a relatively recent neologism.

The component parts originally meant 'self' + 'to kill'; as a modern coinage, 'autocide' has come to denote either individual suicide or broader self-inflicted destruction (including collective or systemic self-destruction).