Definitions

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

  • noun Buddhism A state in which the mind, enlightened as to the illusory nature of the self, transcends all suffering and attains peace.
  • noun Hinduism A state in which the soul, having relinquished individual attachments and recognized its identity with Brahman, escapes samsara.
  • noun An ideal condition of rest, harmony, stability, or joy.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Buddhism, the condition of a Buddha; the state to which the Buddhist saint is to aspire as the highest aim and highest good.

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

  • noun In the Buddhist system of religion, the final emancipation of the soul from transmigration, and consequently a beatific enfrachisement from the evils of worldly existence, as by annihilation or absorption into the divine. See Buddhism.

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

  • noun Buddhism complete cessation of suffering; a blissful state attained through realization of sunyata; enlightened experience.
  • noun state of paradise; heightened or great pleasure.

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

  • noun (Hinduism and Buddhism) the beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation; characterized by the extinction of desire and suffering and individual consciousness
  • noun any place of complete bliss and delight and peace

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Sanskrit nirvāṇam, a blowing out, extinction, nirvana : nis-, nir-, out, away + vāti, it blows; see wē- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Sanskrit निर्वाण (nir-vāṇa, "blown or put out, extinguished")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word nirvana.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.