Glossary of Buddhist Terms in Pali

AccessToInsight.org/glossary; PaliKanon.com; Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

Buddhist Dictionary (Ven. Nyanatiloka)

• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• PQ
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• WXYZ

A Glossary of Pali and Buddhist Terms

This glossary, courtesy of the online sutra collection Access to Insight (ATI), covers many of the Pali language [Magadhi, lingua franca, pidgeon-Sanskrit, Prakrit] words and technical Buddhist terms one comes across in the books and articles available on ATI. The more link that follows some entries leads to a more detailed article on select topics.

A

Abhidhamma:

(1) In the discourses of the Pali canon, this term simply means "higher Dhamma" [or the Dharma in ultimate terms], and is a systematic attempt to define the Buddha's teachings and understand their interrelationships. (2) A later collection of analytical treatises based on lists of categories drawn from the teachings in the discourses [and commentaries], added to the Canon several centuries after the Buddha's life. More

abhiññā:

Intuitive powers that come from the practice of concentration: the ability to display psychic powers, clairvoyance, clairaudience, the ability to know the thoughts of others, recollection of past lifetimes, and the knowledge that does away with mental effluents (see āsava).

ācariya:

Teacher; mentor. See kalyāṇamitta.

adhiṭṭhāna:

Determination; resolution. One of the ten perfections (pāramīs).

ajaan, ajahn, achaan, etc.:

(Thai). Teacher; mentor. Equivalent to the Pali ācariya.

akāliko:

Timeless; unconditioned by time or season.

akusala:

Unwholesome, unskillful, demeritorious. See its opposite, kusala. Glossary