Buddha

See also: buddha

English

1st century CE sculpture of a Buddha

Alternative forms

• Budda (uncommon)
• Buddhah
• Boodha (archaic)
• buddha (common noun, senses 2 and 3)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Pali Buddha (“the Awakened One, the Enlightened One”), from buddha (“awakened, enlightened”), from Sanskrit बुद्ध (buddha, “awakened, enlightened”), past participle of बोधति (bodhati, “to wake, to awaken”). Distantly related to English bid and bede. Also cognate with Proto-Slavic *buditi (“to wake up”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: bo͝odə, IPA^(key): /ˈbʊdə/
• (General American) enPR: bo͞odə, IPA^(key): /ˈbudə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʊdːʰə/ (only in technical contexts) – approximation of Hindustani [ˈbʊdːʱə], which features a geminate ‘d’ and breathy voice on the second ‘d’, neither of which is idiomatic to English
• Rhymes: -ʊdə, -uːdə
• Homophone: Buda (one pronunciation of each word)

Proper noun

the Buddha

1. Siddhartha Gautama, the Nepali prince and Indian philosopher and teacher who founded Buddhism.

Usage notes

Properly preceded by the definite article the, although frequently treated as a proper name rather than a title.

Synonyms

• Siddhartha, Siddhartha Gautama, Gautama Buddha, Sakyamuni, Sakyamuni Buddha; Vishnu (within Hinduism)

Derived terms

• Amitābha Buddha
• Eyes of Buddha
• Śākyamuni Buddha

 

Translations

spiritual and philosophical teacher

• Albanian: Buda (sq) m
• Arabic: بُوذَا m (būḏā)
• Armenian: Բուդդա (hy) (Budda)
• Ashokan Prakrit: 𑀩𑀼𑀥 (budha)
• Assamese: বুদ্ধদেৱ (buddhodew), গৌতম বুদ্ধ (goutom buddho), বুদ্ধ (buddho)
• Azerbaijani: Budda, Büt
• Belarusian: Бу́да m (Búda)
• Bengali: বুদ্ধ (bn) (buddho)
• Bactrian: Βοδδο (Boddo)
• Bulgarian: Бу́да m (Búda)
• Burmese: ဗုဒ္ဓ (my) (buddha.), ဘုရား (my) (bhu.ra:)
• Carpathian Rusyn: Бу́дга m (Búdha)
• Catalan: Buda (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 佛 (fat⁶), 佛陀 (fat⁶ to⁴), 浮屠 (fau⁴ tou⁴), 浮圖／浮图 (fau⁴ tou⁴), 佛馱／佛驮 (fat⁶ to⁴), 浮陀 (fau⁴ to⁴), 休屠 (jau¹ tou⁴), 浮頭／浮头 (yue) (fau⁴ tau⁴), 勃陀 (but⁶ to⁴), 勃馱／勃驮 (but⁶ to⁴), 部多 (bou⁶ do¹), 部陀 (bou⁶ to⁴), 毋陀 (mou⁴ to⁴), 沒馱／没驮 (mut⁶ to⁴), 沸馱／沸驮 (fai³ to⁴), 步他 (bou³ taa¹), 復豆／复豆 (fuk⁶ dou⁶), 佛圖／佛图 (fat⁶ tou⁴), 物他 (mat⁶ taa¹), 馞陀 (but⁶ to⁴), 沒陀／没陀 (mut⁶ to⁴), 釋迦牟尼／释迦牟尼 (sik¹ gaa¹ mau⁴ nei⁴), 佛祖 (fat⁶ zou²), 釋迦／释迦 (sik¹ gaa¹), 釋迦牟尼佛／释迦牟尼佛 (sik¹ gaa¹ mau⁴ nei⁴ fat⁶), 釋迦佛／释迦佛 (sik¹ gaa¹ fat⁶)

  Dungan: фә (fə)

  Hakka: 佛 (fu̍t), 釋迦牟尼／释迦牟尼 (Sit-kâ-meù-nì), 佛祖 (fu̍t-chú)

  Hokkien: 佛 (zh-min-nan) (Hu̍t, Pu̍t), 佛陀 (Hu̍t-tô), 釋迦／释迦 (Sek-khia), 佛祖 (zh-min-nan) (Hu̍t-chó͘, Pu̍t-chó͘), 釋迦牟尼／释迦牟尼 (Sek-khia-mô͘-nî), 釋迦牟尼佛／释迦牟尼佛 (Sek-khia-mô͘-nî-hu̍t), 釋迦佛／释迦佛 (Sek-khia-hu̍t)

  Mandarin: 佛 (zh) (Fó), 佛陀 (zh) (Fótuó), 浮屠 (zh) (Fútú), 釋迦牟尼／释迦牟尼 (zh) (Shìjiāmóuní), 浮圖／浮图 (zh) (Fútú), 佛馱／佛驮 (Fótuó), 浮陀 (Fútuó), 休屠 (zh) (Xiūtú), 浮頭／浮头 (zh) (Fútóu), 勃陀 (zh) (Bótuó), 勃馱／勃驮 (Bótuó), 部多 (Bùduō), 部陀 (Bùtuó), 毋陀 (Wútuó), 沒馱／没驮 (Mòtuó), 沸馱／沸驮 (Fèituó), 步他 (Bùtā), 復豆／复豆 (Fùdòu), 佛圖／佛图 (zh) (Fótú), 物他 (Wùtā), 馞陀 (Bótuó), 沒陀／没陀 (Mòtuó), 佛祖 (zh) (Fózǔ), 釋迦／释迦 (zh) (Shìjiā), 釋迦牟尼佛／释迦牟尼佛 (zh) (Shìjiāmóuní Fó), 釋迦佛／释迦佛 (zh) (Shìjiā Fó)

• Czech: Buddha m
• Danish: Buddha (da) c
• Dutch: Boeddha (nl) m
• Dzongkha: ཤཱ་ཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ (shā kya thub pa)
• Esperanto: Budho
• Estonian: Buddha (et)
• Finnish: Buddha (fi)
• French: Bouddha (fr) m
• Georgian: ბუდა (buda)
• German: Buddha (de) m
• Greek: Βούδας (el) m (Voúdas)

  Ancient: Βούδδας f (Boúddas), Βούττας f (Boúttas)

• Gujarati: બુદ્ધ m (buddh)
• Hebrew: בּוּדְהָא m (budha)
• Hindi: बुद्ध (hi) m (buddh)
• Hungarian: Buddha (hu)
• Icelandic: Búdda m
• Indonesian: Buddha (id), Siddhārtha Gautama
• Irish: Búda m
• Italian: Buddha m, Budda m
• Japanese: 仏陀 (ja) (Budda; Butsuda), 仏 (ja) (Hotoke)
• Kannada: ಗೌತಮ ಬುದ್ಧ (gautama buddha), ಬುದ್ಧ (kn) (buddha), ಬುದ್ಧ (kn) (buddha)
• Kapampangan: Budda m
• Karakhanid: بُرْخَنْ (burχan)
• Kashmiri: بۄد (bọd)
• Kazakh: Бұддһа (Būddha), Будда (Budda)
• Khmer: ព្រះពុទ្ធ (km) (prĕəh put), ពុទ្ធ (km) (put)
• Korean: 부처 (ko) (Bucheo), 불타(佛陀) (Bulta)
• Kyrgyz: Будда (Budda)
• Lao: ພຸດທະ (phut tha), ພຸດ (phut)
• Latin: Buddas m, Budda (la) m
• Latvian: Buda m
• Lisu: ꓩꓴꓹ ꓤꓽ (fǔ zɑ̀)
• Lithuanian: Buda m
• Lü: ᦕᦳᧆᧈ (ṗhud¹), ᦕᦳᧆᧈᦏᦰᧈ (ṗhud¹ṫh!¹)
• Macedonian: Буда m (Buda)
• Malay: Buddha
• Malayalam: ബുദ്ധന് (buddhaṉ)
• Maltese: Buddha m
• Manchu: ᡶᡠᠴᡳᡥᡳ (fucihi)
• Marathi: बुद्ध m (buddha)
• Middle Korean: 부텨 (Pwùthyè)
• Middle Persian: 𐭡𐭥𐭲𐭩 (bʿty /⁠but⁠/)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: Будда (mn) (Budda), Бурхан (mn) (Burxan) (the God)

• Nepali: बुद्ध (buddha)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Buddha m

• Odia: ବୁଦ୍ଧ (or) (buddha)
• Pali: Buddha m

  Burmese: ဗုဒ္ဓ m (buddha)

  Devanagari: बुद्ध m (buddha)

  Thai: พุทธะ m (buddha)

• Pashto: بودا (ps) m (budã)
• Persian: بت (fa) (bot), بودا (fa) (budâ)
• Polish: Budda (pl) m
• Portuguese: Buda (pt) m
• Punjabi: ਬੁੱਧ (buddha)
• Rohingya: Buddá
• Romanian: Buddha m
• Russian: Бу́дда (ru) m (Búdda)
• Salar: Palçıx kiş
• Sanskrit: बुद्ध (sa) m (buddha)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Бу́да m

  Roman: Búda (sh) m

• Shan: ပုၵ်ႉထႃႉ (pṵ̂k thâ̰a)
• Sinhalese: බුද්ධ (si) (buddha)
• Slovak: Budha m
• Slovene: Búda (sl) m
• Southern Altai: Боодо (Boodo)
• Spanish: Buda m
• Swedish: Buddha (sv) c
• Tagalog: Buda
• Tajik: Буддо (Buddo)
• Tamil: புத்தன் (ta) (puttaṉ), புத்தர் (ta) (puttar)
• Tatar: Будда (Budda)
• Telugu: బుద్ధుడు (te) (buddhuḍu), గౌతమబుద్ధుడు (te) (gautamabuddhuḍu)
• Thai: พระพุทธเจ้า (th) (prá-pút-tá-jâao), พระโพธิสัตว์ (prá-poo-tí-sàt), พุทธ (th) (pút), พุทธะ (th) (pút-tá), บุดด้า
• Tibetan: སངས་རྒྱས (sangs rgyas), ཐུབ (thub)
• Tocharian B: Pañäkte
• Turkish: Buda (tr)
• Turkmen: Budda
• Tuvan: Богда (Bogda), Бурган (Burgan)
• Ukrainian: Бу́дда m (Búdda)
• Urdu: بدھ (ur) m (buddha)
• Uyghur: بۇددا (budda)
• Uzbek: Budda
• Vietnamese: Phật (vi) (佛), Phật-đà (佛陀), Đức Phật (vi) (德佛), Bụt (vi) (侼)
• Yiddish: בודאַ m (buda)
• Zhuang: Swzgyahmouzniz (Sakyamuni), baed

Noun

Buddha (plural Buddhas)

1. Any other person considered similarly enlightened in Buddhist contexts.

   At this point, the Amidha Buddha probably has more worshippers than the Buddha himself does.

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 196:

     “Mind,” he began again, lifting one arm from the elbow, the palm of the hand outwards, so that, with his legs folded before him, he had the pose of a Buddha preaching in European clothes and without a lotus-flower - “Mind, none of us would feel exactly like this.”

2. Any other person considered similarly enlightened in other contexts.

   There are some who consider Jesus a buddha, not least because Buddhism had spread to Judaea by the early 1st century.

3. (figurative, ironic) Synonym of know-it-all or smartass, a person who imagines themselves smarter or wiser than they are.
   • 2007 February 20, Chris Chibnall, Life on Mars, Season 2, Episode 2:

     Sam: Well, our first priority is to make sure the thieves don't strike again. It'll be tricky, 'cause these sorts of gangs rarely have just one target on the go. They've usually researched half a dozen possibilities, waiting for the most opportune circumstances on any of them.
     Harry Woolf: He knows his onions, this lad, eh?
     Gene Hunt: Oh, he's a right little smart-arse. So, what do you suggest, Buddha?

4. A statue or image of any Buddha.

   I love visiting the temple to see the Buddha.

Derived terms

• Buddha-dharma
• Buddhahood
• Buddha-nature
• Buddha's delight
• Buddhisation
• Buddhism
• Buddhist
• Buddhization
• Buddhological
• Buddhologist
• Buddhology

 

Finnish

Etymology

Derived from Pali buddha.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbudhɑ/, [ˈbudhɑ̝]
• IPA^(key): /ˈbudːhɑ/, [ˈbudːhɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -udːhɑ
• Syllabification^(key): Budd‧ha

Proper noun

Buddha

1. Buddha

Declension

Inflection of Buddha (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation)
nominative		Buddha	—
genitive		Buddhan	—
partitive		Buddhaa	—
illative		Buddhaan	—
		singular	plural
nominative		Buddha	—
accusative	nom.	Buddha	—
	gen.	Buddhan
genitive		Buddhan	—
partitive		Buddhaa	—
inessive		Buddhassa	—
elative		Buddhasta	—
illative		Buddhaan	—
adessive		Buddhalla	—
ablative		Buddhalta	—
allative		Buddhalle	—
essive		Buddhana	—
translative		Buddhaksi	—
abessive		Buddhatta	—
instructive		—	—
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of Buddha (Kotus type 10/koira, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Buddhani — accusative nom. Buddhani — gen. Buddhani genitive Buddhani — partitive Buddhaani — inessive Buddhassani — elative Buddhastani — illative Buddhaani — adessive Buddhallani — ablative Buddhaltani — allative Buddhalleni — essive Buddhanani — translative Buddhakseni — abessive Buddhattani — instructive — — comitative — — second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative Buddhasi — accusative nom. Buddhasi — gen. Buddhasi genitive Buddhasi — partitive Buddhaasi — inessive Buddhassasi — elative Buddhastasi — illative Buddhaasi — adessive Buddhallasi — ablative Buddhaltasi — allative Buddhallesi — essive Buddhanasi — translative Buddhaksesi — abessive Buddhattasi — instructive — — comitative — — first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Buddhamme — accusative nom. Buddhamme — gen. Buddhamme genitive Buddhamme — partitive Buddhaamme — inessive Buddhassamme — elative Buddhastamme — illative Buddhaamme — adessive Buddhallamme — ablative Buddhaltamme — allative Buddhallemme — essive Buddhanamme — translative Buddhaksemme — abessive Buddhattamme — instructive — — comitative — — second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative Buddhanne — accusative nom. Buddhanne — gen. Buddhanne genitive Buddhanne — partitive Buddhaanne — inessive Buddhassanne — elative Buddhastanne — illative Buddhaanne — adessive Buddhallanne — ablative Buddhaltanne — allative Buddhallenne — essive Buddhananne — translative Buddhaksenne — abessive Buddhattanne — instructive — — comitative — — third-person possessor singular plural nominative Buddhansa — accusative nom. Buddhansa — gen. Buddhansa genitive Buddhansa — partitive Buddhaansa — inessive Buddhassaan Buddhassansa — elative Buddhastaan Buddhastansa — illative Buddhaansa — adessive Buddhallaan Buddhallansa — ablative Buddhaltaan Buddhaltansa — allative Buddhalleen Buddhallensa — essive Buddhanaan Buddhanansa — translative Buddhakseen Buddhaksensa — abessive Buddhattaan Buddhattansa — instructive — — comitative — —

Derived terms

• buddhalainen

 

compounds

• buddhankuva

 

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʊda/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Buddha m (strong, genitive Buddhas, plural Buddhas)

1. buddha

Declension

Declension of Buddha [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Buddha	die	Buddhas
genitive	eines	des	Buddhas	der	Buddhas
dative	einem	dem	Buddha	den	Buddhas
accusative	einen	den	Buddha	die	Buddhas

Further reading

• “Buddha (Abbild, Statue)” in Duden online
• “Buddha (Ehrentitel)” in Duden online
• “Buddha” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbud.da/
• Rhymes: -udda
• Hyphenation: Bùd‧dha

Noun

Buddha m (invariable)

1. Alternative spelling of Budda

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀩𑀼𑀤𑁆𑀥 (Brahmi script)
• बुद्ध (Devanagari script)
• বুদ্ধ (Bengali script)
• බුද‍්ධ (Sinhalese script)
• ဗုဒ္ဓ or ၿုၻ္ꩪ or ၿုၻ်ꩪ (Burmese script)
• พุทฺธ or พุทธะ (Thai script)
• ᨻᩩᨴ᩠ᨵ (Tai Tham script)
• ພຸທ຺ຘ or ພຸທຘະ (Lao script)
• ពុទ្ធ (Khmer script)
• 𑄝𑄪𑄘𑄴𑄙 (Chakma script)

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit बुद्ध (buddha, “enlightened, awakened”)

Proper noun

Buddha m

1. (Buddhism) Buddha (the enlightened one)

Descendants

• → Arabic: بُوذَا (būḏā)
• → Bactrian: Βοδδο (Boddo), Βουδο (Boudo)
• → Burmese: ဗုဒ္ဓ (buddha.)
• → English: Buddha
• → Esperanto: Budho
• → French: Bouddha
• → Greek: Βούδας (Voúdas)
• → Irish: Búda
• → Indonesian: Buddha
  • Malay: Buddha
• → Italian: Budda
• → Japanese: 仏陀 (Budda)
• → Khmer: ព្រះពុទ្ធ (prĕəh put), ពុទ្ធ (put)
• → Korean: 부처 (bucheo)
• → Lao: ພຸດທະ (phut tha), ພຸດ (phut)
• → Mongolian: Будда (Budda)
• → Russian: Бу́дда (Búdda)
• → Sogdian: [script needed] (bwt)
  • → Middle Persian: bwt' (but, “Buddha; idol”)
    • Persian: بت (bot, “idol”)
• → Thai: พระพุทธเจ้า (prá-pút-tá-jâao), พุทธ (pút)
• → Tibetan: སངས་རྒྱས (sangs rgyas) (calque)
• → Ukrainian: Бу́дда (Búdda)