Buddhism

American  

[boo-diz-uhm, bood-iz-] / ˈbu dɪz əm, ˈbʊd ɪz- /

noun

• Buddhisms
  plural

1. a religion, originated in India by Buddha (Gautama) and later spreading to China, Myanmar (Burma), Japan, Tibet, and parts of Southeast Asia, holding that life is full of suffering caused by desire and that the way to end this suffering is through enlightenment that enables one to halt the endless sequence of births and deaths to which one is otherwise subject.

---

Buddhism British  

/ ˈbʊdɪzəm /

noun

1. a religious teaching propagated by the Buddha and his followers, which declares that by destroying greed, hatred, and delusion, which are the causes of all suffering, man can attain perfect enlightenment See nirvana

---

Buddhism Cultural  

1. A religion, founded by the Buddha, that emphasizes physical and spiritual discipline as a means of liberation from the physical world. The goal for the Buddhist is to attain nirvana, a state of complete peace in which one is free from the distractions of desire and self-consciousness. Buddhists are found in the greatest numbers in eastern Asia.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Buddhist
  noun
• Buddhist
  adjective
• Buddhistic
  adjective
• Buddhistical
  adjective
• anti-Buddhist
  adjective
• non-Buddhist
  adjective
• non-Buddhistic
  adjective
• pre-Buddhist
  adjective
• pro-Buddhist
  adjective
• pseudo-Buddhist
  adjective
• Buddhistically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• Buddhisms
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Buddhism

Buddh(a) + -ism

Compare meaning

How does buddhism compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Zen Buddhism vs. Buddhism

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Buddhism Buddhisms

Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism all attach moral significance to voluntary self-denial.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026

The hip, non-preachy image has given Buddhism a cultural boost, but it does not seems to have attracted new believers.

From Barron's ● Jul. 7, 2026

“Some of the dialogue struck a chord with me. It was Buddhism and psychology. ‘Without wisdom, there is no gain.’

From Salon ● May 31, 2026

As these forms of faith came down to the present day, they tended to ignore the strain of religions that are mostly nonproselytizing—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Judaism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto and tribal indigenous traditions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026

I throw in a dab of secondhand Buddhism remembered from a friend’s account of a monastery in northern California where rich people pay to spend their weekends meditating and doing various menial chores, housework included.

From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich

In a word, this one of the many Buddhisms of Asia is vastly less a religion, in any real sense of the word, than a system of metaphysics.

From The Religions of Japan From the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis

The separatists began what may be called the Northern Buddhisms of Nepal, Tibet, China, Korea and Japan.

From The Religions of Japan From the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis

Astonishingly different has been the case with the Northern Buddhisms which are those of Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia, Manchuria, China, Korea and Japan.

From The Religions of Japan From the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis

Many students have asked what is the peculiar, the characteristic difference between the Buddhism of Japan and the other Buddhisms of the Asian continent.

From The Religions of Japan From the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis

Possibly, also, besides the Southern and Northern Buddhisms, the Buddhism of Japan may be treated by itself and named Eastern Buddhism.

From The Religions of Japan From the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis