五大明王

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word 五大明王. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word 五大明王, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say 五大明王 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word 五大明王 you have here. The definition of the word 五大明王 will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of五大明王, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

Japanese

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia ja
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
五大明王 (Go Dai Myōō): the Five Wisdom Kings are the blue figures to the right in this image.
Kanji in this term

Grade: 1
だい
Grade: 1
みょう
Grade: 2
おう
Grade: 1
on'yomi

Etymology

Buddhist term, imported into Japanese when Buddhism was introduced to Japan, some time during the Kofun, Asuka, and Nara periods.

From Middle Chinese 五大明王 (*ngǒ *dhɑ̀i *miæng *hiuɑng, literally five great wisdom kings). The 明王 (*miæng *hiuɑng, wisdom king) portion is a translation of Sanskrit विद्याराज (vidyārāja, knowledge king).

Compare modern Mandarin 五大明王 (Wǔ Dà Míngwáng).

Pronunciation

Proper noun

()(だい)(みょう)(おう) (Go Dai Myōō

  1. the Five Wisdom Kings in Vajrayana Buddhism

Usage notes

When borrowed into English, this term is more often romanized as Godai Myōō.

Synonyms

  • 五大尊 (ごだいそん, ​Go Dai Son): the Five Great Reverences
  • 五大尊明王 (ごだいそんみょうおう, ​Go Dai Son Myōō): the Five Great Reverent Wisdom Kings
  • 五力明王 (ごりきみょうおう, ​Go Riki Myōō): the Five Powerful Wisdom Kings

Coordinate terms

The 五大明王 (Go Dai Myōō, Five Wisdom Kings) and associated directions are:

References

  1. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  • Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN