Standard Lemma guide

bhikkhu

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈbɪkuː/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A male Buddhist monk or priest; one who follows all Buddhist precepts as a full member of the sangha.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Transliteration of Pali bhikkhu (“beggar, Buddhist monk”), from Sanskrit भिक्षु (bhikṣu, “mendicant”).

Across languages

Translations

51 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bengali: ভিক্ষু (bhikkhu) — Buddhist monk
  • Burmese: ဘိက္ခု (bhikhku.) — Buddhist monk
  • Burmese: ဘုန်းကြီး (bhun:kri:) — Buddhist monk
  • Chinese Mandarin: 比丘 (bǐqiū) — Buddhist monk
  • Chinese Mandarin: 和尚 (héshang) — Buddhist monk
  • Chinese Mandarin: 僧侶 /僧侣 (sēnglǚ) — Buddhist monk
  • Finnish: buddhalainen munkki — Buddhist monk
  • Finnish: buddhalaismunkki — Buddhist monk
  • French: bhikshu — Buddhist monk
  • German: Bhikkhu — Buddhist monk
  • Hindi: भिक्षु (bhikṣu) — Buddhist monk
  • Hungarian: bhikkhu — Buddhist monk
  • Indonesian: biksu — Buddhist monk
  • Indonesian: biku — Buddhist monk
  • Irish: manach Búdaíoch — Buddhist monk
  • Italian: monaco buddista — Buddhist monk
  • Japanese: 比丘 (biku) — Buddhist monk
  • Japanese: 苾蒭 — Buddhist monk
  • Japanese: 苾芻 (bisshu) — Buddhist monk
  • Khmer: ឧបសម្បន្ន (ʼupaʼsamban) — Buddhist monk
  • Khmer: ភិក្ខុ (phɨkkhoʼ) — Buddhist monk
  • Korean: 비구 (bigu) — Buddhist monk
  • Korean: 필추 (pilchu) — Buddhist monk
  • Korean: 비크슈 (bikeusyu) — Buddhist monk
  • Korean: 비쿠 (biku) — Buddhist monk
  • Lao: ພິກຂຸ (phik khu) — Buddhist monk
  • Lao: ພະສົງ — Buddhist monk
  • Malay: biku — Buddhist monk
  • Malay: biksu — Buddhist monk
  • Malay: sami — Buddhist monk
  • Marathi: भिक्खू (bhikkhū) — Buddhist monk
  • Mongolian: гэлэн (gelen) — Buddhist monk
  • Mongolian: ᠭᠡᠯᠦᠩ (gelüng) — Buddhist monk
  • Nepali: भिक्षु (bhikṣu) — Buddhist monk
  • Pali: bhikkhu — Buddhist monk
  • Polish: bhikkhu — Buddhist monk
  • Portuguese: bico — Buddhist monk
  • Punjabi: ਭਿਖਸ਼ੂ (bhikhśū) — Buddhist monk
  • Russian: бхи́кшу (bxíkšu) — Buddhist monk
  • Sanskrit: भिक्षु (bhikṣu) — Buddhist monk
  • Shan: ၽိၵ်ႈၶူႇ (phīk khùu) — Buddhist monk
  • Sikkimese: དགེ་སློང (dge slong) — Buddhist monk
  • Sinhalese: භික්ෂූහූ (bhikṣūhū) — Buddhist monk
  • Spanish: bhikkhu — Buddhist monk
  • Tamil: துறவி (tuṟavi) — Buddhist monk
  • Thai: ภิกษุ (pík-sù) — Buddhist monk
  • Thai: ภิกขุ (pík-kù) — Buddhist monk
  • Thai: พระภิกษุ (prá pík-sù) — Buddhist monk
  • Tibetan: དགེ་སློང (dge slong) — Buddhist monk
  • Vietnamese: Tỉ-khâu — Buddhist monk
  • Vietnamese: Tỉ-khưu — Buddhist monk