What does "gassho" mean?

A ritual gesture of Eastern origin, with hands pressed together in front of the chest. It can be used for prayer or as a sign of greeting, gratitude, reverence, or apology. When performed with a bow, it is called gassho rei.

What is a synonym for "gassho"?

Common synonyms include: namaste, namaste.

Gassho

noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
A ritual gesture of Eastern origin, with hands pressed together in front of the chest. It can be used for prayer or as a sign of greeting, gratitude, reverence, or apology. When performed with a bow, it is called gassho rei.

Verb

1
To make this gesture. intransitive

Synonyms

All synonyms

namaste namaste

Etymology

From Japanese 合掌 (gasshō), from Middle Chinese 合掌 (ɣop-tʃáng, “Buddhist-style pressed-palm gesture of piety”) (compare Mandarin 合掌 (hézhǎng), Cantonese 合掌 (hap⁶ jeung²)), from 合 (“unite”) and 掌 (zhǎng, “palm”).

Related phrases

gassho rei

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.