Harakiri
Ritual Suicide
noun
You know 腹 means belly, and 切り is from 切る, meaning "to cut." Well, if you're cutting your own belly, there's a good chance you're committing harakiri, a form of ritual suicide.
腹切り sounds blunt and colloquial compared to the more formal 切腹. Kind of like you're just saying the words "belly cutting" — not very refined! This is often the case with synonym pairs like this: the one with kun'yomi readings will sound more casual, while the one with on'yomi readings will sound more formal.
The readings come from 腹 and 切る. You may also just know the word harakiri already, as it's made its way into English as well.
大名はその下級武士に腹切りを命じた。
The feudal lord ordered the low-ranking samurai to perform ritual suicide.
外国人に「腹切り」という言葉の方が広まったのは、響きにインパクトあったからかもね。
The word "harakiri" might have spread more among foreigners because it has a memorable ring to it.
腹切りって言葉、なんだか切腹よりも生々しい感じがするよね。
The word "harakiri" feels somehow more visceral than "seppuku," doesn’t it?
武士の腹切りをテーマにした映画は来週公開されます。
A movie about a samurai committing harakiri will be released next week.
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