Meru

See also: mēru and meru

English

Etymology 1

From Sanskrit मेरु (Mēru)

Proper noun

Meru

1. (mythology, religion, usually with "Mount") The abode of the gods at the center of the universe in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist traditions.
   • 2003, J. Dina Bagdel, John C. Huntington Buddhist Cosmology: Environment of Meditative Transformation: Mount Meru, John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, Robert A. F. Thurman, The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art, page 66,

     Buddhist realizations and transformations take place in a sacred meditational space known as Mount Meru, or Sumeru. In Western-language literature, the Mount Meru system is often construed as the "Buddhist universe," but this description is misleading as it implies a singular phenomenon. The Mount Meru system is indeed an expression of Buddhist cosmology, but it describes structure of the cosmos.

   • 2013, Eric Huntington, Portrait of a Landscape: Depictions of the Meru Cosmos in Buddhist Art & Culture, Dissertation, University of Chicago.

Usage notes

Usually preceded by Mount. Sumeru is the same name, prefixed by su- ("splendid, wonderful"), but is sometimes used to distinguish the Buddhist traditions regarding the mountain from the Hindu and Jainistic ones.

Synonyms

• (mountain abode of gods in Buddhist, Hindu and Jainistic traditions): Mount Meru, Sumeru

Translations

abode

• Burmese: မြင်းမိုရ် (my) (mrang:muir), မြင်းမိုရ်တောင် (mrang:muirtaung)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 須彌山／须弥山 (zh) (Xūmíshān)

• Hindi: मेरु (hi) m (meru), मेरु पर्वत m (meru parvat), सुमेरु (hi) m (sumeru), हेमाद्रि (hi) m (hemādri), रत्नसानु (hi) m (ratnasānu), सुरालय (hi) m (surālay)
• Japanese: 須弥山 (ja)
• Khmer: ភ្នំព្រះសុមេរុ (phnumprĕəhsomeiruʼ)
• Korean: 수미산(須彌山) (ko) (sumisan)
• Lao: ສະເໝນ (sa mēn), ສິເນຣຸ (si nē ru), ສຸເມຣຸ (su mē ru), ສເມນ (sa mēn), ເມນ (mēn)
• Marathi: मेरू (mr) m (merū)
• Pali: Meru
• Sanskrit: मेरु (sa) (meru)
• Shan: လွႆသဝ်မိူင်း (shn) (lǎui sǎo móeng)
• Tamil: மகா மேரு பருவதம் (makā mēru paruvatam)
• Thai: เขาพระสุเมรุ
• Tibetan: ཪི་རྒྱལ་པོ་རི་རབ་ (ri rgyal po ri rab)
• Vietnamese: Núi Tu-di

Etymology 2

From Meru Ameru

Proper noun

Meru

1. The Ameru people of Kenya.
2. The Ameru language.
3. A region and county of Kenya where the Ameru people live.

Further reading

• Ethnologue entry for Meru, mer ⁠

Etymology 3

Proper noun

Meru

1. (usually with "Mount") A mountain in Arusha, Tanzania.
   • 2009, Dale C. Williams, Leadership and Leadership Development in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania: An Investigation into Patterns and Processes in the Meru Diocese‎^[1], page 9:

     It was in 1902, six years after the killings, however, that a church and school were built near Akeri, specifically at Nkoaranga on the slopes of Mount Meru (Baroin 1995, 3).

2. A people of northern Tanzania, of the Arumeru district of Arusha region.

Synonyms

• (mountain in Tanzania): Mount Meru

Etymology 4

Proper noun

Meru

1. (usually with "Peak") A mountain in the Indian section of the Himalayas.

Synonyms

• (mountain in India): Meru Peak

Anagrams

• mure, Reum