Dalai Lama

[dah-lahy lah-muh]

noun

1. (formerly) the ruler and chief monk of Tibet, believed to be a reincarnation of Avalokitesvara and sought for among newborn children after the death of the preceding Dalai Lama.

Dalai Lama

/ ˈdælaɪ ˈlɑːmə /

noun

1. (until 1959) the chief lama and ruler of Tibet

2. born 1935, the 14th holder of this office (1940), who fled to India (1959): Nobel peace prize 1989

Word History and Origins

Origin of Dalai Lama¹

From Mongolian, equivalent to dalai “ocean” + lama “a celibate priest”

Word History and Origins

Origin of Dalai Lama¹

from Mongolian dalai ocean; see _lama

Example Sentences

His published comments did not mention the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader who has been living in exile in India since he fled in 1959.

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Television screens that were supposed to show several films by the artist - one was about the Dalai Lama - had been switched off.

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The emotional weight of displacement, the legal limbo of statelessness and geopolitics around the Dalai Lama hung heavy on the birthday celebrations.

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He described himself as a "spiritual nomad", exploring paths through yoga, Buddhism, and Christian mysticism, and learned from the Dalai Lama - whom he gifted a tartan-pouched hair clipper in 1988.

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Thousands of Tibetan Buddhists streamed into India's Himalayan town of Dharamshala on Sunday to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Dalai Lama.

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