zen
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Japanese 禅 (zen), from Middle Chinese 禪 (MC dzyen) (compare Mandarin 禅 (Chán), an abbreviation of 禪那 (MC dzyen na), from Sanskrit ध्यान (dhyāna, “a type of meditation”). Akin to dhyana.
Pronunciation
Noun
zen (uncountable)
- (religion) A denomination of Buddhism.
- (religion) Profound meditation within that denomination of Buddhism.
- An approach to an activity, skill, or subject that emphasizes simplicity and intuition rather than conventional thinking or fixation on goals.
- the zen of cooking; the zen of passing the bar exam; the zen of C++
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.”
Synonyms
- (approach emphasizing simplicity etc): tao
Adjective
zen (comparative more zen, superlative most zen)
- (religion) Pertaining to this denomination of Buddhism.
- (colloquial) Enlightened, unburdened and free of worries; chill, extremely relaxed and collected.
Translations
|
References
- “zen”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
Antillean Creole
Noun
zen
Aynu
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
zen
References
- Otto Ladstätter, Andreas Tietze, Die Abdal (Äynu) in Xinjiang (1994)
Finnish
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -en
Noun
zen
Declension
Inflection of zen (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation) | |||
---|---|---|---|
nominative | zen | zenit | |
genitive | zenin | zenien | |
partitive | zeniä | zenejä | |
illative | zeniin | zeneihin | |
singular | plural | ||
nominative | zen | zenit | |
accusative | nom. | zen | zenit |
gen. | zenin | ||
genitive | zenin | zenien | |
partitive | zeniä | zenejä | |
inessive | zenissä | zeneissä | |
elative | zenistä | zeneistä | |
illative | zeniin | zeneihin | |
adessive | zenillä | zeneillä | |
ablative | zeniltä | zeneiltä | |
allative | zenille | zeneille | |
essive | zeninä | zeneinä | |
translative | zeniksi | zeneiksi | |
abessive | zenittä | zeneittä | |
instructive | — | zenein | |
comitative | See the possessive forms below. |
French
Pronunciation
Noun
zen m (plural zen)
Adjective
zen (invariable)
- pertaining to zen.
- (colloquial) extremely relaxed and collected.
Further reading
- “zen”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
Indonesian
Etymology
From Japanese 禅 (ぜん, zen), from Middle Chinese 禪 (MC dzyen) (compare Mandarin 禅 (chán), an abbreviation of 禪那 (MC dzyen na), from Sanskrit ध्यान (dhyāna, “a type of meditation”). Akin to dhyana.
Pronunciation
Noun
zen
- (religion) A denomination of Buddhism.
Further reading
- “zen” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.
Japanese
Romanization
zen
Mandarin
Romanization
zen
- Nonstandard spelling of zěn.
- Nonstandard spelling of zèn.
Usage notes
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Portuguese
Noun
zen m (uncountable)
Adjective
zen (invariable)
Volapük
Etymology
Borrowed from German Zinder, French cendre and English cinder.
Pronunciation
Noun
zen (nominative plural zens)
- ash, cinder
- 1952, Epistle to the Hebrews, 9.13,14, translated by Arie de Jong.
- If ya blud toras e hikaparas, e zen kunüla, kel pagifülon ad klinükön koapi, saludükon profenanis,
- vio mödikumo blud Kristusa, kel ededietom oki dub Lanal laidüpik nenmiotädiko Gode, oklinükon konsieni obsik de vobots deadik, ad kultön Godi liföl.
- If the blood of bulls and billies, and the ashes of heifers, which is sprinkled to clean the body, already sanctifies profane people,
- how much more will the blood of Christ, who gave himself unblemished to God because of the eternal Spirit, clean our conscience from dead deeds to worship the living God.
- 1952, Epistle to the Hebrews, 9.13,14, translated by Arie de Jong.
Declension
- English terms derived from Japanese
- English terms derived from Middle Chinese
- English terms derived from Sanskrit
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛn
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- en:Religion
- English adjectives
- English colloquialisms
- en:Buddhism
- Antillean Creole lemmas
- Antillean Creole nouns
- Äynu terms with IPA pronunciation
- Äynu lemmas
- Äynu nouns
- Rhymes:Finnish/en
- Finnish lemmas
- Finnish nouns
- Finnish terms spelled with Z
- Finnish risti-type nominals
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- Rhymes:French/ɛn
- French lemmas
- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
- French adjectives
- French colloquialisms
- Indonesian terms borrowed from Japanese
- Indonesian terms derived from Japanese
- Indonesian terms derived from Middle Chinese
- Indonesian terms derived from Sanskrit
- Indonesian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Indonesian lemmas
- Indonesian nouns
- id:Religion
- Japanese non-lemma forms
- Japanese romanizations
- Mandarin non-lemma forms
- Mandarin pinyin
- Mandarin nonstandard forms
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese uncountable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- pt:Religion
- Portuguese informal terms
- Portuguese adjectives
- Portuguese indeclinable adjectives
- Portuguese slang
- Portuguese terms ending in N
- Volapük terms borrowed from German
- Volapük terms derived from German
- Volapük terms borrowed from French
- Volapük terms derived from French
- Volapük terms borrowed from English
- Volapük terms derived from English
- Volapük terms with IPA pronunciation
- Volapük lemmas
- Volapük nouns