euthanasia

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the intentional ending of a person or animal's life in a painless way to relieve incurable suffering

   The law permits euthanasia only under strict medical and legal safeguards.

2. 2
   noun

   an easy or peaceful death, especially in older usage

   The essay uses euthanasia in its original sense of a gentle death without suffering.

First recorded in English in the early seventeenth century, from Greek euthanasia ("easy or good death"), formed from eu- ("good, well") + thanatos ("death"). The modern medical and ethical sense developed from the older meaning "a peaceful death."

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