noun. The now illegal act or practice of a Hindu widow's cremating herself on her husband's funeral pyre in order to fulfill her true role as wife.

noun. A widow who commits such an act.

noun. A Hindu widow who immolates herself on the funeral pile, either with the body of her husband, or separately if he died at a distance.

noun. The voluntary self-immolation of Hindu widows on the funeral pile of their husbands according to a Brahmanical rite.

noun. A Hindoo widow who immolates herself, or is immolated, on the funeral pile of her husband; -- so called because this act of self-immolation is regarded as envincing excellence of wifely character.

noun. The act of burning a widow on the funeral pile of her husband.

noun. The custom and/or act of a Hindu woman giving herself up to be cremated on her husband’s funeral pyre as a sign of her devotion to her late spouse.

noun. the act of a Hindu widow willingly cremating herself on the funeral pyre of her dead husband

"Another gem from this Steyn book: In a more culturally confident age, the British in India were faced with the practice of "suttee" - the tradition of burning widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands."

self-annihilation  self-destruction  suicide  

beef-eating  d'aubaine  duelling  extraterritoriality  half-knowledge  

blazing  blistering  branding  burning  burnt offering