suicide, usually by burning oneself in a public place
2.
deliberate self-sacrifice
self-immolation in American English
(ˈselfˌɪməˈleiʃən)
noun
voluntary sacrifice or denial of oneself, as for an ideal or another person
Word origin
[1810–20]This word is first recorded in the period 1810–20. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: duplex, dynamic, keyboard, liberalism, rationalize