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.
“Each time samurai would commit the ritual suicide of seppuku, they would first read the death poem they had prepared in order to summarize their life and make sense of it,” Murakami said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
It takes everything the lord has left in him to prevent his Nagakado from blindly accepting Ishido’s order to commit seppuku over the cannon attack he ordered in Episode 4.
From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2024
Cicadas have a much higher-stakes conundrum when it comes to their sort of reproductive seppuku: they die shortly after mating, offering themselves up in order to ensure the continuation of the next generation.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 14, 2021
It sounds as if she would gladly commit seppuku, if only that didn’t require the sin of cultural appropriation: “I am wholly sorry for the pain and anger I caused you,” she wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2016
This view of mental physiology once admitted, the syllogism of seppuku is easy to construct.
From Bushido, the Soul of Japan by Inazo Nitobe
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