Pāli Glossary

Translations are contextual, not one-to-one substitutions.

Pāli	Working meaning	Important caution
anattā	not-self; not fit to be taken as self	Not equivalent to “nothing exists.”
anicca	impermanent; inconstant	Includes arising, alteration, and cessation.
ariya	noble; spiritually ennobled	Often refers to awakening or its path.
avijjā	ignorance; not-knowing	Specifically obscures truths and conditionality.
bhāvanā	development; cultivation	Broader than meditation technique alone.
citta	mind; heart-mind	Meaning changes with context.
dāna	giving; generosity	Training in relinquishment, not merely donation.
dhamma	teaching, quality, phenomenon, principle	Meaning must be inferred from context.
dukkha	suffering, stress, unsatisfactoriness	Broader than physical pain.
jhāna	meditative absorption	Definitions and thresholds are debated later.
kamma	intentional action	Not fate and not every kind of causation.
karuṇā	compassion	Wish that suffering be removed.
mettā	goodwill; loving-kindness	Non-possessive wish for welfare.
muditā	appreciative joy	Gladness at another's welfare or goodness.
nāma-rūpa	name-and-form; mentality-materiality	Technical factor in dependent origination.
nibbāna	extinguishment; unbinding	The cessation of greed, hatred, and delusion.
paññā	discernment; wisdom	Directly understands relevant causes and truths.
paṭiccasamuppāda	dependent origination	Conditional arising, not a first-cause theory.
rūpa	form; material form	Includes the body and physical form aggregate.
samādhi	collectedness; concentration	Right samādhi is integrated with the path.
saṃsāra	wandering-on	Repeated birth and death in traditional doctrine.
saṅkhāra	choices, formations, fabrications	One translation rarely fits every context.
saññā	perception; recognition	Marks and recognizes features.
sati	mindfulness; recollection	Not bare attention alone in every context.
sīla	ethical conduct; virtue	Supports non-remorse and collectedness.
taṇhā	craving; thirst	Craving for sensuality, becoming, or non-becoming.
tathāgata	epithet of the Buddha	Post-mortem predicates are treated carefully.
upekkhā	equanimity	Balance, not indifference.
upādāna	clinging; taking up; sustenance	Four kinds are distinguished in the discourses.
vedanā	feeling tone	Pleasant, painful, or neutral; not emotion as a whole.
viññāṇa	consciousness	Usually sense-specific and dependently arisen.