Buddhism

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The teaching of Siddhartha Gautama that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct, wisdom, and meditation releases one from desire, suffering, and rebirth.
• noun The religion represented by the many groups, especially numerous in Asia, that profess varying forms of this doctrine and that venerate Siddhartha Gautama.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The religious system founded by Buddha, or the Buddha, in India.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The religion based upon the doctrine originally taught by the Hindu sage Gautama Siddartha, surnamed Buddha, “the awakened or enlightened,” in the sixth century b. c., and adopted as a religion by the greater part of the inhabitants of Central and Eastern Asia and the Indian Islands. Buddha's teaching is believed to have been atheistic; yet it was characterized by elevated humanity and morality. It presents release from existence (a beatific enfranchisement, Nirvâna) as the greatest good. Buddhists believe in transmigration of souls through all phases and forms of life. Their number was estimated in 1881 at 470,000,000.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The religion and philosophy founded by the Nepalese teacher Gautama Buddha

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a religion represented by the many groups (especially in Asia) that profess various forms of the Buddhist doctrine and that venerate Buddha
• noun the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth