Buddhism

American  

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

noun

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.

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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

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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.

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Other Word Forms

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

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

Artist Matthew Thomas shows how the traditions of Buddhism and Black American abstraction both provide a sense of freedom and agility of faith.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

Both were made around the end of the 12th century, and their convenient similarity owed to a shift in royal patronage toward Buddhism.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 10, 2025

China also has a long history of vegetarian cuisine that is strongly influenced by Buddhism, which preaches nonviolence and doing no harm.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 18, 2025

The mountains are also sacred to people in Tibet, where many follow Buddhism.

From BBC • Sep. 22, 2025

Choose your question wisely, and then examine how Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity attempt to answer it.

From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green