如来

See also: 如來

Chinese

For pronunciation and definitions of 如来 – see 如來 (“tathagata”). (This term is the simplified form of 如來).

Notes: Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore. Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
如	来
にょ Grade: S	らい Grade: 2
goon	on’yomi

Alternative spelling
如來 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From the Middle Chinese compound 如來 (MC nyo loj), an abbreviation of either 如去如來 (MC nyo khjoX nyo loj) or 如來如去 (MC nyo loj nyo khjoX, “coming from suchness, going back into suchness”), translations of Sanskrit तथागत (tathāgata, “coming from suchness, going back into suchness; thus coming, thus going”, exact meaning uncertain, see Tathāgata on Wikipedia.Wikipedia ).

First cited to a section of the 続日本紀 (Shoku Nihongi) dated to 766 CE.

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) にょらい [nyòráí] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) にょ​らい [nyóꜜràì] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɲ̟o̞ɾa̠i]

Noun

如(にょ)来(らい) • (nyorai) 

1. [from 766] (Buddhism) tathagata

Synonyms

• 多(た)陀(だ)阿(あ)伽(が)度(た) (Tadāgata) (rare)

Proper noun

如(にょ)来(らい) • (Nyorai) 

1. [from 766] the Buddha

Synonyms

• 多(た)陀(だ)阿(あ)伽(が)度(た) (Tadāgata) (rare)

Further reading

• 如来 on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja
• Buddha on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Tathāgata on Wikipedia.Wikipedia