腹切り
Japanese
Kanji in this term | |
---|---|
腹 | 切 |
はら Grade: 6 | き Grade: 2 |
kun’yomi |
Alternative forms
- 腹切
Etymology
From 腹 (hara, “belly, bowels”) + 切る (kiru, “to cut”).
Noun
腹切り (hiragana はらきり, rōmaji harakiri)
- hara-kiri, self-disembowelment
Usage notes
- Harakiri, or 切腹 (seppuku), was the Samurai practice of committing honorable suicide in historic Japan, seen as a final deed to cleanse oneself of sins and remove shame. As a verbal suffix, 切る (kiru), otherwise meaning “to cut”, has the connotation of being thorough or decisive while performing an action, indicating the resolve of a Samurai in doing so.
Synonyms
- 切腹 (seppuku)
- 割腹 (kappuku)
- 自刃 (jijin)
Descendants
- Danish: harakiri
- English: hara-kiri