彌勒

See also: 弥勒

Chinese

		phonetic
trad. (彌勒)		彌	勒
simp. (弥勒)		弥	勒

Etymology

From early Middle Indo-Aryan in forms like *Metreka, due to alternation of -k- and -y- that can be found in Middle-Indic languages such as Gandhari and Ashokan Prakrit. Ji (1998v11) considers the most likely direct ancestor to be Tocharian A Metrak, which also gave rise to Tocharian B Maitrāk. Cf. Bactrian Μητραγα (Mētraga) (Karashima, 2010); connected to the Gandhari 𐨨𐨅𐨟𐨿𐨪𐨅𐨩 (metreya) and Sanskrit मैत्रेय (maitreya). However, the frequently-cited form Maitreya is not a direct ancestor. Ji (ibid.) further finds the root of both the word and the religious figure in Sanskrit मैत्री (maitrī, “goodwill; close union; friendship”) and related to मित्र (mitra, “Mitra”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Mílè

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧˊ ㄌㄜˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mei⁴ lak⁶
• Eastern Min (BUC): Mì-lĕk
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): Bî-le̍k / Bî-lia̍k / Mî-le̍k / Nî-le̍k

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Mílè
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧˊ ㄌㄜˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Mílè
    • Wade–Giles: Mi²-lê⁴
    • Yale: Mí-lè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Mileh
    • Palladius: Милэ (Milɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi³⁵ lɤ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: mei⁴ lak⁶
    • Yale: mèih lahk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mei⁴ lak⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: méi⁴ leg⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mei̯²¹ lɐk̚²/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: Mì-lĕk
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi⁵³⁻³³ l̃ɛiʔ⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bî-le̍k
    • Tâi-lô: Bî-li̍k
    • Phofsit Daibuun: bilek
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi²³⁻³³ liɪk̚⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /bi²⁴⁻¹¹ liɪk̚⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /bi²⁴⁻²² liɪk̚⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /bi¹³⁻²² liɪk̚¹²¹/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bî-lia̍k
    • Tâi-lô: Bî-lia̍k
    • Phofsit Daibuun: biliak
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /bi²⁴⁻²² liak̚²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Mî-le̍k
    • Tâi-lô: Mî-li̍k
    • Phofsit Daibuun: milek
    • IPA (Taipei): /mĩ²⁴⁻¹¹ liɪk̚⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /mĩ²³⁻³³ liɪk̚⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Nî-le̍k
    • Tâi-lô: Nî-li̍k
    • Phofsit Daibuun: nilek
    • IPA (Taipei): /nĩ²⁴⁻¹¹ liɪk̚⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /nĩ²³⁻³³ liɪk̚⁴/

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• Middle Chinese: mjie lok

Rime
Character	彌	勒
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	明 (4)	來 (37)
Final (韻)	支 (11)	德 (131)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	武移切	盧則切
Baxter	mjie	lok
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/miᴇ/	/lək̚/
Pan Wuyun	/miɛ/	/lək̚/
Shao Rongfen	/mjɛ/	/lək̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/miə̆/	/lək̚/
Li Rong	/mie/	/lək̚/
Wang Li	/mǐe/	/lək̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/mie̯/	/lək̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	mí	lè
Expected Cantonese Reflex	mei4	lak6

Proper noun

彌勒

1. (～佛, ～菩薩) (Buddhism) Maitreya
2. (～市) Mile (a county-level city in Honghe prefecture, Yunnan, China)

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 彌勒 (“Maitreya; Laughing Buddha”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		彌勒, 彌勒佛, 彌勒菩薩
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	彌勒佛
	Singapore	彌勒佛, 彌勒菩薩
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	彌羅佛
	Yangzhou	彌陀, 笑佛, 彌勒佛
Cantonese	Hong Kong	彌勒佛
Gan	Nanchang	彌勒佛
Hakka	Meixian	摁肚伯公
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	彌勒佛, 彌提
Southern Min	Xiamen	肥勒, 肥勒爺
	Quanzhou	肥勒
	Zhangzhou	肥勒, 肥勒佛, 阿肥勒佛仔
	Jieyang	彌勒佛
Puxian Min	Putian	未來佛
	Xianyou	未來佛
Xiang	Changsha	和合菩薩

Derived terms

• 彌勒佛／弥勒佛 (Mílèfó)
• 彌勒菩薩／弥勒菩萨 (Mílè Púsà)

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (彌勒):

• → Japanese: 弥(み)勒(ろく) (Miroku)
• → Korean: 미륵(彌勒) (Mireuk)
• → Vietnamese: Di Lặc (彌勒)

Others:

• → Korean: 미러 (Mireo, “Mile”)

Korean

Hanja in this term
彌	勒

Proper noun

彌勒 • (Mireuk or McCune-Reischauer: Mirŭk or Yale: Miluk) (hangeul 미륵)

1. hanja form^? of 미륵 (“Maitreya”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
彌	勒

Proper noun

彌勒

1. chữ Hán form of Di Lặc (“Maitreya”).