Dalai Lama

See also: Appendix:Variations of "dalailama"

English

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th and current Dalai Lama

Etymology

Borrowed from Tibetan ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ (tā la'i bla ma), compound of Mongolian ᠳᠠᠯᠠᠢ (dalai, “ocean”) + Tibetan བླ་མ (bla ma, “lama”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdælaɪ ˈlɑːmə/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑːlaɪ ˈlɑːmə/

Noun

Dalai Lama (plural Dalai Lamas)

1. (Tibetan Buddhism) The supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism, believed to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara, and considered the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.
   • [1767, Annual register, or a view of the history and politics and literature for the year‎^[1], page 38, column 2:

     Of the Mongall Tartars.
     The Mongalls are a numerous people, and occupy a large extent of country, from this place to the Kallgan, which ſignifies the everlaſting Wall, or the great wall of China. From this wall they ſtretch themſelves northward as far as the river Amoor; and from the Amoor, weſtward, to the Baykail ſea ; where they border with the territories of the Kontayſha, or prince of the black Kalmucks. On the ſouth, they are bounded by a nation called Tonguts, among whom the Delay Lama has his residence.]

   • [1933 December 2, “Tibetan Troops Renew Attack on Sikong”, in The China Weekly Review‎^[2], volume 67, number 1, →OCLC, page 32, column 2:

     Szechuen troops defending recognized Chinese territory against the raids of the Tibetans declare that by crossing the Kinsha River the forces of the Da Lai Lama have violated the recent truce. The truce established the stream as the boundary between Tibet and China Proper.]

   • 2005, Bill Clinton, My Life‎^[3], volume II, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 435:

     I got a laugh from the Chinese audience when I said I thought that if Jiang and the Dalai Lama did meet, they would like each other very much.

   • 2008, Nancy Pelosi, “A Voice That Will Be Heard”, in Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters‎^[4], Doubleday, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 95:

     I was pleased that President George W. Bush presented the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama at the Capitol in October 2007.
     In March 2008, I led a Congressional delegation to India. Part of our mission was to meet with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, the headquarters of Tibetan exiles.

   • 2010, George W. Bush, Decision Points‎^[5], →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 428:

     At the 2007 APEC Summit in Sydney, I told President Hu I planned to attend a ceremony where the Dalai Lama would receive the Congressional Gold Medal. The Buddhist leader was a source of distress for the Chinese government, which accused him of stirring up separatists in Tibet. I met with the Dalai Lama five times during my presidency, and I found him to be a charming, peaceful man. I told China’s leaders they should not fear him. “This is not meant as a slap at China,” I said, “but as a measure of my respect for the Dalai Lama and for the U.S. Congress. You know my strong belief in religious freedom.”

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Dalai Lama.

Synonyms

• Grand Lama (dated)
• Great Lama (uncommon, dated)

Related terms

• lama
• Panchen Lama

Translations

the supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism

• Arabic: دَالَاي لَامَا m (dalay lāmā)
• Belarusian: да́лай-ла́ма m (dálaj-láma)
• Bulgarian: да́лай-ла́ма m (dálaj-láma)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 達賴喇嘛 / 达赖喇嘛 (zh) (Dálài Lǎmá), 達賴 / 达赖 (zh) (Dálài)

• Czech: dalajláma (cs)
• Esperanto: dalai-lamao
• Finnish: dalai-lama (fi)
• French: dalaï-lama (fr) m
• Georgian: დალაი-ლამა (dalai-lama)
• German: Dalai Lama (de) m
• Greek: Δαλάι Λάμα (el) (Dalái Láma)
• Hebrew: דלאי לאמה
• Hindi: दलाईलामा (dalāīlāmā), दलाई लामा (dalāī lāmā)
• Hungarian: dalai láma (hu)
• Indonesian: Dalai Lama
• Irish: Dalaí Láma m
• Japanese: ダライ・ラマ (Darai-Rama)
• Kalmyk: Дала Лам (Dala Lam)
• Korean: 달라이 라마 (Dallai Rama)
• Macedonian: далај-лама m (dalaj-lama)
• Malay: Dalai Lama
• Manchu: ᡩᠠᠯᠠᡳ
  ᠯᠠᠮᠠ (dalai lama)
• Marathi: दलाई लामा m (dalāī lāmā)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: Далай Лам (Dalaj Lam)

  Mongolian: ᠳᠠᠯᠠᠢ
  ᠯᠠᠮᠠ (dalai lama)

• Nepali: दलाइ लामा (dalāi lāmā)
• Persian: دالایی لاما (fa)
• Polish: dalajlama (pl) m
• Portuguese: dalai lama m
• Russian: да́лай-ла́ма (ru) m (dálaj-láma)
• Thai: ทะไลลามะ (tálai laamá)
• Tibetan: ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ (tā la'i bla ma)
• Ukrainian: да́лай-ла́ма m (dálaj-láma)
• Urdu: دلائی لاما (dlāī lāmā)
• Vietnamese: Đạt-lại Lạt-ma
• Written Oirat: ᡑᠠᠯᠠᡅ
  ᡋᠯᠠᡏᠠ (dalai blama)
• Yakut: Далай Лаама (Dalay Laama)

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌda(ː)laɪ̯ˈlaːma/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Dalai Lama m (strong, genitive Dalai Lamas, plural Dalai Lamas)

1. Dalai Lama (head of Tibetan Buddhism)

Declension

Declension of Dalai Lama [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Dalai Lama	die	Dalai Lamas
genitive	eines	des	Dalai Lamas	der	Dalai Lamas
dative	einem	dem	Dalai Lama	den	Dalai Lamas
accusative	einen	den	Dalai Lama	die	Dalai Lamas

Further reading

• “Dalai Lama” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Spanish

Etymology

From Tibetan ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ (tā la'i bla ma).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdalai ˈlama/ [ˌd̪a.lai̯ ˈla.ma]
• Syllabification: Da‧lai La‧ma

Noun

Dalai Lama m

1. Dalai Lama (head of Tibetan Buddhism)