seppuku

See also: Seppuku

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 切腹 (seppuku), from Middle Chinese 切 (t͡set, “to cut”) +‎ 腹 (pjuwk, “belly”). Compare Cantonese 切腹 (cit³ fuk¹) and Mandarin 切腹 (qiēfù).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sɛˈpuː.kuː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) enPR: sĕpʹo͞o-ko͞o('), sĕpʹə-, sĕ-po͞oʹ-, sə-po͞oʹ-, IPA^(key): /ˈsɛ.pu(ˌ)ku/, /ˈsɛ.pə-/, /sɛˈpu-/, /səˈpu-/
• Hyphenation: sep‧pu‧ku

Noun

seppuku (countable and uncountable, plural seppukus or seppuku)

1. A form of ritual suicide by disembowelment using a blade, practiced by Japanese samurai, especially to rid oneself of shame, as a means of protest, or, formerly, as a method of capital punishment.
   • 2023 February 12, Motoko Rich, Hikari Hida, quoting Yusuke Narita, “A Yale Professor Suggested Mass Suicide for Old People in Japan. What Did He Mean?”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     “I feel like the only solution is pretty clear,” he said during one online news program in late 2021. “In the end, isn’t it mass suicide and mass ‘seppuku’ of the elderly?”

Usage notes

• As with suicide, the usual verb used with seppuku is commit.

Synonyms

• hara-kiri

Translations

ritual suicide by disembowelment

• Arabic: هَارَا كِيرِي m (hārā kīrī), سِيبُّوكُو m (sībbūkū)
• Armenian: սեպպուկու (seppuku), խարակիրի (hy) (xarakiri), հարակիրի (hy) (harakiri)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 切腹 (zh) (qiēfù)

• Dutch: seppuku (nl) m
• Esperanto: harakiro
• Finnish: harakiri (fi)
• German: Seppuku (de) n
• Hindi: सेप्पुकू (seppukū)
• Japanese: 切腹 (ja) (せっぷく, seppuku), 腹切り (ja) (はらきり, harakiri)
• Korean: 할복 (halbok)
• Marathi: सेप्पुकु n (seppuku)
• Norwegian: seppuku
• Polish: seppuku n
• Portuguese: seppuku (pt) m
• Russian: хараки́ри (ru) n (xarakíri), сэппу́ку (ru) n (sɛppúku)
• Swedish: seppuku ?
• Tagalog: seppuku
• Urdu: سیپکو (seppukū)
• Vietnamese: thiết phúc, seppuku (vi)

See also

• bushido
• hara-kiri
• kamikaze
• suicide

Anagrams

• pukes up

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 切腹.

Noun

seppuku

1. seppuku
   • 1997, Erik Østerud, Den Optiske Fordring: Pejlinger I Den Visuelle Kultur Omkring Henrik Ibsens Forfatterskab:

     På grund af dette lovbrud beordrer shogunen Hangan til at begå seppuku.

     Because of this crime, the shogun commands Hangan to commit seppuku.

   • 1967, K. Holst Andersen, Mit hus i Japan:

     ... det blev ham tilladt at begå seppuku, eller harakiri, selvmord ved at stikke en kniv i underlivet.

     ... he was allowed to commit seppuku, or harakiri, suicide by stabbing a knife into the part of the body consisting of the hip and the scrotum.

Declension

No declined forms attested.

Synonyms

• harakiri

Dutch

Alternative forms

• seppoekoe (rare)

Etymology

Borrowing from Japanese 切腹.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛˈpu.ku/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sep‧pu‧ku
• Rhymes: -uku

Noun

seppuku m (uncountable)

1. seppuku

   Synonym: harakiri

Japanese

Romanization

seppuku

1. Rōmaji transcription of せっぷく

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Japanese 切腹.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛˈpu.ku/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uku
• Syllabification: se‧ppu‧ku

Noun

seppuku n (indeclinable)

1. hara-kiri, seppuku (ceremonial suicide by ripping open the abdomen)

   Synonym: harakiri

Further reading

• seppuku in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• seppuku in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Noun

seppuku m (plural seppukus)

1. seppuku (ritual Japanese suicide by disembowelment)

Swedish

Noun

seppuku c

1. seppuku

   begå seppuku

   commit seppuku

Declension

Declension of seppuku

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	seppuku	seppukus
	definite	seppukun	seppukuns
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

See also

• harakiri