suttee
pronunciation
How to pronounce suttee in British English:
UK [ˈsʌti:,sʌˈti:]
How to pronounce suttee in American English:
US [sʌˈti, ˈsʌtˌi]
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- Noun:
- the act of a Hindu widow willingly cremating herself on the funeral pyre of her dead husband
Word Origin
- suttee (n.)
- "self-cremation of a Hindu widow on her husband's funeral pyre," 1786, from Hindi, from Sanskrit sati "virtuous woman, faithful wife," used also of the burning, fem. of sat "good, wise, virtuous, true," literally "existing," present participle of asmi "I am" (cognate with Latin esse; see essence). Properly, the word for the woman who does so. The custom was abolished in British India in 1829.
Example
- 1. It was quite unlikely that he should be arrested for preventing a suttee .
- 2. Native chinese newspapers have within a few years contained detailed accounts of an enforced suttee practised in a district near foochow .