sati

¹

or sa·tī, sut·tee

[ suh-tee, suht-ee ]

noun

1. a Hindu practice whereby a widow immolates herself on the funeral pyre of her husband: now abolished by law.
2. a Hindu widow who so immolates herself.

Sati

²

or Sa·tī

[ suh-tee, suht-ee ]

noun

, Hindu Mythology.

1. the wife of Rudra, who immolated herself following a quarrel between her father and her husband.

Word History and Origins

Origin of sati¹

First recorded in 1780–90, sati is from the Sanskrit word satī good woman, woman devoted to her husband

Example Sentences

A teenaged widow was burned on her husband's funeral pyre under the Hindu practice of sati 37 years ago.

From BBC

After its glorification was made illegal, the group dropped sati from its name.

From BBC

But despite Kanwar’s deification, chances of justice for India’s last sati remain dim.

From BBC

Sati was first banned in 1829 by the British colonial rulers, but the practice had continued even after India’s independence in 1947.

From BBC

Kanwar is recognised as India’s last sati.

From BBC