Buddha

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

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”).

• (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)

the Buddha

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

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

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

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.

From Pali buddha.

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

Buddha

1. Buddha

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʊda/

• Audio

  (file)

Buddha m (strong, genitive Buddhas, plural Buddhas)

1. buddha

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

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

Buddha m (invariable)

1. Alternative spelling of Budda

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

Buddha m

1. (Buddhism) Buddha, the enlightened one.