seppuku
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of seppuku
First recorded in 1900–05; from Japanese, earlier s(y)et-puku, from Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese qiè “cut” + fù “belly”
Vocabulary lists containing seppuku
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Seppuku is the correct name of the rite known in the West by the vulgar name of hara-kiri, or the “happy despatch.”
From The International Spy Being the Secret History of the Russo-Japanese War by Upward, Allen
More usually the Japanese themselves speak of hara-kiri by its Chinese synonym, Seppuku.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 8 "Haller, Albrecht" to "Harmonium" by Various
"Seppuku" itself was not honored, for in the vast majority of cases those who performed it were guilty of some crime or breach of etiquette.
From Evolution Of The Japanese, Social And Psychic by Gulick, Sidney Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
