Hinayana

[hee-nuh-yah-nuh]

noun

1. earlier of the two great schools of Buddhism, still prevalent in Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, and Cambodia, emphasizing personal salvation through one's own efforts.

Hinayana

/ ˌhiːnəˈjɑːnə /

noun

1. 1. any of various early forms of Buddhism

   2. ( as modifier )

      Hinayana Buddhism

Other Word Forms

• Hinayanist noun
• Hinayanistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hinayana¹

First recorded in 1865–70; from Sanskrit, equivalent to hīna “lesser, inferior” + yāna “vehicle”

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hinayana¹

from Sanskrit hīnayāna, from hīna lesser + yāna vehicle

Example Sentences

Still, compared with Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism in Nepal and Bihar, the Tibetan tradition is a fairly new phenomenon.

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Let us take, first of all, the schools of the Hinayana, or Minor Vehicle, which, as we should expect, is not extensively represented in Japan.

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There can be no doubt that the form in which it became known at the outset was the Hinayana, or Exoteric, as distinguished from the Mahayana, or Esoteric.

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It must be remembered that this school, though nominally belonging to the Hinayana, came to be something very different from the Theravâda of Ceylon.

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He at first favoured the Hinayana but subsequently went over to the Mahayana, being moved in part by the exhortations of Hsüan Chuang.

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