腹切り

Japanese

Kanji in this term
腹	切

Alternative forms

• 腹切

Etymology

From 腹 (hara, “belly, bowels”) + 切る (kiru, “cut”).

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
• 自刃