腹切り

Japanese

Kanji in this term
腹	切
はら Grade: 6	き Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Alternative forms

• 腹切

Etymology

From 腹(はら) (hara, “belly, bowels”) + 切(き)る (kiru, “to cut”).

Noun

腹(はら)切(き)り • (harakiri) 

1. hara-kiri, self-disembowelment

Usage notes

• Harakiri, or 切腹(せっぷく) (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(き)る (kiru), otherwise meaning “to 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(かっぷく) (kappuku)
• 自刃(じじん) (jijin)

Descendants

• → Danish: harakiri
• → English: hara-kiri
• → Russian: хараки́ри (xarakíri) (see there for further descendants)