Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A religious building of the Far East, especially a multistory Buddhist tower, erected as a memorial or shrine.
- n. A stupa.
- n. A structure, such as a garden pavilion, built in imitation of a multistory Buddhist tower.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In the far East, as India, China, Burma, etc., a sacred tower, usually more or less pyramidal in outline, richly carved, painted, or otherwise adorned, and of several stories, connected or not with a temple. Such towers were originally raised over relics of Buddha, the bones of a saint, etc., but are now built chiefly as a work of merit on the part of some pious person, or for the purpose of improving the luck of the neighborhood. In China pagodas are from three to thirteen stories high (always an odd number). See
pagod , 1. - n. An idol.
- n. [Formerly also pagody; so called with ref. to the figure of a pagoda on the coin. The natives in Madras called the coin hun and varahā (Telugu) or varāhan (Tamil).] A gold coin current in India from the sixteenth century. There were several varieties. Its value was approximately $1.70. Half- and quarter-pagodas were coined in silver.
- n. [capitalized] [NL.] In zoology, a genus of mollusks.
- n. A small ornamental structure made in imitation of an Eastern pagoda: especially, such a building in the streets of a city in which various small articles, such as tea, etc., are sold.
Wiktionary
- n. An Asian religious building, especially a multistory Buddhist tower, erected as a shrine or temple.
- n. An ornamental structure, of that design, erected in a park or garden.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A term by which Europeans designate religious temples and tower-like buildings of the Hindoos and Buddhists of India, Farther India, China, and Japan, -- usually but not always, devoted to idol worship.
- n. An idol.
- n. A gold or silver coin, of various kinds and values, formerly current in India. The Madras gold pagoda was worth about three and a half rupees.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an Asian temple; usually a pyramidal tower with an upward curving roof
Etymologies
- Portuguese pagode, perhaps from Tamil pagavadi, from Sanskrit bhagavatī, goddess, from feminine of bhagavat-, blessed, from bhagaḥ, good fortune; see bhag- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“I think I shall put into the tablecloth a certain pagoda I remember.”
“The four-storey pagoda, which is almost four feet high and one-and-a-half feet wide, is thought by archaeologists to be one of the 84,000 pagodas commissioned by Ashoka the Great in the second century BC to house the remains of the Buddha.”
“Although the age and source of the Buddhas is unknown, four additional silver and bronze statues were also found beneath the pagoda, which is thought to be at least 200 years old, leading archaeologists to suspect that the diminutive Buddhas themselves are older.”
“One British visitor, Henry Yule, dubbed the pagoda an”
“The area around the pagoda was also mined, except for a narrow corridor which ran from the pagoda to the northwest corner of the compound”
“The pagoda was a shopping plaza on Bolsa Avenue where no sign was printed in English.”
The Black Echo
“To the right of the pagoda were the heavily embellished tombs of the most venerated monks who had lived here.”
Floating City
“The pagoda is the most venerated of all Buddhist places of worship, containing as it does not only the eight sacred hairs of Gautama, but also relics of the three Buddhas who preceded him.”
“The pagoda was the nearest cover to them, and they raced for it with all their speed, the quick-firing Mannlichers scourging them with a whistling shower of lead as they flew.”
“Among the offerings ranged on the steps of the pagoda was a native painting, a quaint piece of work which drew Jack's attention at once.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pagoda’.
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Realia from Everywhere
Culturally defined terms and expressions from the four corners of the world
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Loanwords
Since English is littered with loanwords, everything could conceivably end up here. But there is a distinct feeling associated with these.. maybe they're young additions to the English language; I ...
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art & art historical
chiaroscuro, architrave, column, capital, corinthian, dorice, entablature, frieze, ionic, sketch, abecedarian, abstraction and 124 more...
chained_bear Also a type of coin; for usage note see johannes. Mar 4, 2008