Japanese

Alternative forms

• 腹切

Noun

腹切り ‎(hiragana はらきり, romaji harakiri)

1. 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 “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 (せっぷく) ‎(seppuku)
• 割腹 (かっぷく) ‎(kappuku)
• 自刃 (じじん) ‎(jijin)