daruma

English

A daruma doll.

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 達磨 (daruma), from Sanskrit धर्म (dhárma, “law; morality; code”), used as a clipping of 菩提達磨 (Bodaidaruma, “Bodhidharma”). Doublet of Dharma.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɑːɹʊmə/

Noun

daruma (plural darumas)

1. A hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism.

   Synonym: Dharma doll

   • 1988 February 19, Janice Perrone, “A Gloom of Their Own”, in Chicago Reader‎^[1]:

     Like a daruma doll, you knock it over and it rights itself.

   • 2012, Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, Suzanne Gay, A Brief History of Japanese Civilization, page 255:

     This combination of piety and fun also accounts for the continued popularity of roly-poly darumas, popular doll-like figures named after Bodhidharma.

Translations

Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 達摩 / 达摩 (zh) (dámó)

• Japanese: 達磨 (ja) (だるま, daruma), だるま (ja) (daruma)
• Korean: 다루마 (daruma), 달마(達摩) (dalma)
• Marathi: दारुमा m (dārumā)

Anagrams

• Madura, damaru, maraud