seppuku en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈsɛ.pə-/ (General-American)
- sĕpʹə- (General-American)
- sĕpʹo͞o-ko͞o (General-American) '
- /sɛˈpuː.kuː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- sĕ-po͞oʹ- (General-American)
- (Southern-England) audio
- sə-po͞oʹ- (General-American)
- /səˈpu-/ (General-American)
- /sɛˈpu-/ (General-American)
- /ˈsɛ.pu(ˌ)ku/ (General-American)
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 切腹 (seppuku), from Middle Chinese 切 (t͡set, “to cut”) + 腹 (pjuwk, “belly”). Compare Cantonese 切腹 (cit³ fuk¹) and Mandarin 切腹 (qiēfù).
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) 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.
“I feel like the only solution is pretty clear,” he said during one online news program in late 2021. “In the end, isn’t it mass suicide and mass ‘seppuku’ of the elderly?” […] At a panel hosted by Globis, a Japanese graduate business school, Dr. Narita told the audience that “if this can become a Japanese society where people like you all commit seppuku one after another, it wouldn’t be just a social security policy but it would be the best ‘Cool Japan’ policy.”
2023 February 12, Motoko Rich, Hikari Hida, quoting Yusuke Narita, “A Yale Professor Suggested Mass Suicide for Old People in Japan. What Did He Mean?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 Feb 2023:I heard that if you hit a vape and then commit seppuku by slashing out your lungs, it'll look like there's a ghost leaving your body.
2018 August 22, 01:28 from the start, in CS:GO SURF IN A NUTSHELL (Comedy, Gaming), spoken by RaccoonEggs, YouTube:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| seppukus | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| seppuku | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Relateds
hara-kiri · bushido · kamikaze · suicide
Synonyms
Translations (26)
mr सेप्पुकु (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · ko 할복 (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · ar سِيبُّوكُو (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · no seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · ar هَارَا كِيرِي (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · de Seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · ru хараки́ри (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · tl seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · nl seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · sv seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · vi seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · ja 切腹 (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · pt seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · ur سیپکو (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · fi harakiri (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · ja 腹切り (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · ru сэппу́ку (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · vi thiết phúc (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · hi सेप्पुकू (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · hy խարակիրի (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · cmn 切腹 (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · pl seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · hy սեպպուկու (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · eo harakiro (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · es seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment) · hy հարակիրի (ritual suicide by disembowelment)