Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Ritual suicide by disembowelment formerly practiced by Japanese samurai.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as hara-kiri.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Same as hara-kiri.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A form of ritual suicide by disembowelment using a blade, practiced by Japanese samurai, especially to rid oneself of shame, as a means of protest or, formerly, as a method of capital punishment.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun ritual suicide by self-disembowelment on a sword; practiced by samurai in the traditional Japanese society

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Japanese : setsu, to cut (from Middle Chinese tshiat; also the source of Mandarin qiè) + fuku, stomach, abdomen (from Middle Chinese fuwk; also the source of Mandarin ).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Japanese 切腹, せっぷく (seppuku).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word seppuku.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.