Definitions

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

  • noun religion A denomination of Buddhism
  • adjective religion Pertaining to this denomination of Buddhism
  • adjective colloquial extremely relaxed and collected

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Japanese , from (禅那 zenna; Mandarin: chánnà), a derivation from the Sanskrit term dhyāna (Pāli: jhāna), which refers to a specific type or aspect of meditation.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Even in your Zen heaven we shan't meet.

    from "Lesbos," Sylvia Plath

    March 26, 2008

  • The only Zen you find

    on the tops of mountains

    is the Zen you bring up there.

    --Robert M. Pirsig

    November 10, 2008

  • Everything is zen.

    May 21, 2011

  • I hope Scrabble begins to recognize 'zen' as a common noun. We could use the points. But the heck with them, we always play it anyway.

    September 26, 2011