karma

[ kahr-muh ]
See synonyms for karma on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Hinduism, Buddhism. action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation: in Hinduism one of the means of reaching Brahman.: Compare bhakti (def. 1), jnana.

  2. Theosophy. the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person's deeds in the previous incarnation.

  1. the good or bad emanations felt to be generated by someone or something: Lets get out of here. This place has bad karma.

Origin of karma

1
First recorded in 1820–30; from Sanskrit kárman- “act, deed”

Other words for karma

Other words from karma

  • karmic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use karma in a sentence

  • In his little room far up under the hunched shoulders of the house, Bunker Bean sat reviewing his Karmic past.

    Bunker Bean | Harry Leon Wilson
  • Theosophos told me so, Stephen answered, whom in a previous existence Egyptian priests initiated into the mysteries of karmic law.

    Ulysses | James Joyce
  • By putting on the ailments of others, a yogi can satisfy, for them, the karmic law of cause and effect.

    Autobiography of a YOGI | Paramhansa Yogananda
  • Certain karmic restrictions are present, but there are no distinctions in the astral world about desirability of various forms.

    Autobiography of a YOGI | Paramhansa Yogananda
  • He realized his departure from the fifty-seven Paths, but he did not dream that as yet he had come up to his Karmic Destiny.

    The Gay Gnani of Gingalee | Florence Huntley

British Dictionary definitions for karma

karma

/ (ˈkɑːmə) /


noun
  1. Hinduism Buddhism the principle of retributive justice determining a person's state of life and the state of his reincarnations as the effect of his past deeds

  2. theosophy the doctrine of inevitable consequence

  1. destiny or fate

Origin of karma

1
C19: from Sanskrit: action, effect, from karoti he does

Derived forms of karma

  • karmic, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012