self-immolation

noun

The act of setting oneself on fire, especially as a form of protest.

Meanings

nounself-immolation (countable and uncountable, plural self-immolations)

plural self-immolations

  1. countableuncountableThe act of setting oneself on fire, especially as a form of protest.
    1 more example

    The act of self-immolation The sweeping wave of self-immolation began in 2009 in the aftermath of the 2008 nationwide uprisings against China. Since then, Tibet has witnessed at least 152 self-immolations. Of these self-immolators,¹ 126 were men and 26 women. The burning flame has consumed 130 lives. Nearly a third of the Tibetans who resorted to self-immolation protest were monks and nuns.² The rest were laypeople from different regions and from all walks of life: students, farmers, teachers, young parents, grandparents and mothers of several children.

    2018, Central Tibetan Administration, Tibet was Never a Part of China: but the Middle Way Approach Remains a Viable Solution, New Delhi: Norbu Graphics, →ISBN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Oct 2019, pages 6–7

    Synonyms: autocremation

  2. countablefigurativelyuncountableThe act of self-sacrificing oneself, in any manner of ways.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe act of setting oneself on fire, especially as a form of protest.

Origin

Translations

Bulgarian самозапа́лване
  • самозапа́лване (samozapálvane)setting oneself on fire
Chinese Mandarin 自焚
  • 自焚 (zìfén)setting oneself on fire
Czech sebeupálení
  • sebeupálenísetting oneself on fire
Danish selvafbrænding
  • selvafbrændingsetting oneself on fire
Dutch zelfverbranding
  • zelfverbrandingsetting oneself on fire
Finnish polttoitsemurha
  • polttoitsemurhasetting oneself on fire
French auto-immolation
  • auto-immolationsetting oneself on fire
German Selbstverbrennung
  • Selbstverbrennungsetting oneself on fire
Greek αυτοπυρπόληση
  • αυτοπυρπόληση (aftopyrpólisi)setting oneself on fire
Hindi आत्मदाह
  • आत्मदाह (ātmadāh)setting oneself on fire
Italian autoimmolazione
  • autoimmolazionesetting oneself on fire
Japanese 焼身自殺, 焼身
  • 焼身自殺 (shōshin jisatsu)setting oneself on fire
  • 焼身 (shōshin)setting oneself on fire
Korean 분신자살
  • 분신자살 (bunsinjasal)setting oneself on fire
Norwegian Bokmål selvpåtenning, selvoppopfrelse
  • selvpåtenningsetting oneself on fire
  • selvoppopfrelseself-sacrificing oneself
Persian خودسوزی
  • خودسوزی (xod-suzi)setting oneself on fire
Polish samospalenie
  • samospaleniesetting oneself on fire
Portuguese autoimolação
  • autoimolaçãosetting oneself on fire
Russian самосожже́ние
  • самосожже́ние (samosožžénije)setting oneself on fire
Slovak sebaupálenie
  • sebaupáleniesetting oneself on fire
Spanish autoinmolación
  • autoinmolaciónsetting oneself on fire
Swedish självförbränning, självbränning
  • självförbränningsetting oneself on fire
  • självbränningsetting oneself on fire
Turkish kendini yakma, kendini ateşe verme
  • kendini yakmasetting oneself on fire
  • kendini ateşe vermesetting oneself on fire
  • özyakımsetting oneself on fire
Ukrainian самоспа́лення
  • самоспа́лення (samospálennja)setting oneself on fire
Vietnamese tự thiêu
  • tự thiêusetting oneself on fire
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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