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• sati
  sati

  noun

  a Hindu practice whereby a widow immolates herself on the funeral pyre of her husband: now abolished by law.
• Sati
  Sati

  noun

  the wife of Rudra, who immolated herself following a quarrel between her father and her husband.

sati

¹ American  

[suh-tee, suht-ee] / sʌˈti, ˈsʌt i /

Or satī,

noun

1. a Hindu practice whereby a widow immolates herself on the funeral pyre of her husband: now abolished by law.

2. a Hindu widow who so immolates herself.

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Sati ² American  

[suh-tee, suht-ee] / sʌˈti, ˈsʌt i /

Or Satī

noun

Hindu Mythology.

1. the wife of Rudra, who immolated herself following a quarrel between her father and her husband.

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Etymology

Origin of sati

First recorded in 1780–90, sati is from the Sanskrit word satī good woman, woman devoted to her husband

Example Sentences

After its glorification was made illegal, the group dropped sati from its name.

From BBC • Oct. 18, 2024

Scholars of the history of self-immolation typically date the phenomenon to antiquity, to early Christian martyrdoms, and particularly to the Hindu practice of sati.

From Salon • May 4, 2024

A wealthier widow, particularly from the Kshatriya or warrior caste, might throw herself on her husband’s funeral pyre in an act of ritual suicide known as sati.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

They say the folklore around Padmavati has been problematic as they have glorified sati.

From BBC • Jan. 24, 2018

At the same time their wives frequently performed sati, and the idea was perhaps that they looked on their deaths as the occasion of a fresh bridal in the warrior’s Valhalla.

From The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India - Volume IV of IV Kumhar-Yemkala by Russell, R. V. (Robert Vane)