zen

See also Zen, zěn, zèn, zeń, and źeń

English

Etymology

Japanese 禅, from (禅那 zenna; Mandarin: chánnà), a derivation from the Sanskrit term ध्यान (dhyāna; Pāli: jhāna), which refers to a specific type or aspect of meditation.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Alternative forms

• Zen

Usage notes

Often capitalized, similar to a proper noun, when talking about the denomination proper (compare Catholicism), rather than the philosophy or calm: “That’s very zen.” versus “She studies Zen Buddhism.”

Noun

zen (uncountable)

1. (religion) A denomination of Buddhism

Adjective

zen (comparative more zen, superlative most zen)

1. (religion) Pertaining to this denomination of Buddhism
2. (colloquial) extremely relaxed and collected

Translations

denomination of Buddhism

• Chinese: 禅 (cmn) (chán)
• Esperanto: zena (eo)
• Finnish: zen (fi), zenbuddhalaisuus (fi)
• French: zen (fr) m
• German: Zen (de) m
• Hungarian: zen (hu)

• Japanese: 禅 (ja) (zen)
• Korean: 선 (ko) (seon)
• Russian: дзен (ru) (dzen) m
• Vietnamese: thiền (vi)

Anagrams

• NZE

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Finnish

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -en

Noun

zen

1. zen

Declension

Declension of zen (type risti) singular plural nominative zen zenit genitive zenin zenien partitive zeniä zenejä accusative zen zenin zenit inessive zenissä zeneissä elative zenistä zeneistä illative zeniin zeneihin adessive zenillä zeneillä ablative zeniltä zeneiltä allative zenille zeneille essive zeninä zeneinä translative zeniksi zeneiksi instructive – zenein abessive zenittä zeneittä comitative – zeneineen

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /zɛn/

Noun

zen m (plural zen)

1. zen

Adjective

zen (invariable)

1. pertaining to zen.
2. (colloquial) extremely relaxed and collected.

Anagrams

• nez

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Japanese

Romanization

zen

1. See ぜん

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Lojban

Rafsi

zen

1. rafsi of zenba.

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Mandarin

Romanization

zen

1. Nonstandard spelling of zěn.
2. Nonstandard spelling of zèn.

Usage notes

English transcriptions of Chinese speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Chinese language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

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Volapük

Noun

zen (plural zens)

1. ash, cinder

Declension

declension of zen

	singular	plural
nominative	zen	zens
genitive	zena	zenas
dative	zene	zenes
accusative	zeni	zenis
predicative	zenu	zenus
vocative	o zen!	o zens!