self-immolate

verb

To set oneself on fire, especially as a form of protest.

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Meanings

verbself-immolate (third-person singular simple present self-immolates, present participle self-immolating, simple past and past participle self-immolated)

present singular third person self-immolates · participle present self-immolating · participle past self-immolated · past self-immolated

  1. intransitiveTo set oneself on fire, especially as a form of protest.

    A woman asked, hesitantly: “Is he the one who … self-immolated?”

    2019 April 15, J Oliver Conroy, “A lawyer set himself on fire to protest climate change. Did anyone care?”, in The Guardian

Origin

From self- + immolate.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 自焚
  • 自焚 (zìfén)to set oneself on fire
Finnish tehdä polttoitsemurha
  • tehdä polttoitsemurhato set oneself on fire
French s'immoler
  • s'immolerto set oneself on fire
Japanese 焼身自殺する, 焼身する
  • 焼身自殺する (shoushinjisatsusuru)to set oneself on fire
  • 焼身する (shoushinsuru)to set oneself on fire
Latin sē immolāre
  • sē immolāreto set oneself on fire
Russian сжига́ть самого́ себя́, сжечь самого́ себя́
  • сжига́ть самого́ себя́ (sžigátʹ samovó sebjá)to set oneself on fire
  • сжечь самого́ себя́ (sžečʹ samovó sebjá)to set oneself on fire
Spanish autocremarse
  • autocremarseto set oneself on fire
Swedish sätta eld på sig själv
  • sätta eld på sig självto set oneself on fire
Cite this entry
APA

self-immolate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-immolate

MLA

“self-immolate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-immolate. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-immolate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-immolate.

Source: self-immolate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.