hara-kiri
/ˌharəˈkɪri
/noun [mass noun]
Ritual suicide by disembowelment with a sword, formerly practised in Japan by samurai as an honourable alternative to disgrace or execution.Alejandro Ferretis plays a middle-aged painter who has retired to a secluded and primitive village to commit suicide (this hara-kiri is perhaps a key to the enigmatic title)....
- This man, a superior samurai named Yogo Zenemon, has been ordered by the lord, for his own reasons, to commit hara-kiri, or ritualistic suicide by disembowelment.
- The day after the surrender, he committed hara-kiri or suicide.
Origin
Mid 19th century: colloquial Japanese, from hara 'belly' + kiri 'cutting'.