noun, noun or participle which takes 'suru', intransitive verb
suicide by cutting one's throat
Rare, literary term for a specific method of suicide. In modern Japanese, more common expressions like 首を切って自殺する are used instead.
古文書には、戦に敗れた武士が自刎したと記されている。
An old document records that a samurai defeated in battle committed suicide by cutting his throat.
Composed of 自 (self) and 刎 (to cut the throat). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; it is a Sino-Japanese compound used in classical texts.