Sunyata
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Emptiness, the absence of an intrinsic essence or nature which is stable and separable from other things. Hinduism, Jainism, countable, uncountable
"1993, Sunyata, Emptiness and Self-emptying, Kenosis by Ven. Dr. Rewata Dhamma published in Buddhist - Christian Dialogue London, 27th March However since emptiness empties itself and so cannot itself be an object of attachment, dynamic 'sunyata' empties itself out as just the things themselves."
- 2 Emptiness, in terms of a meditative state; an Eastern concept of a high meditative state of calm and freedom from distraction. countable, uncountable
"1975, Herbert V. Guenther, Chögyam Trungpa, The Dawn of Tantra, 2001, Shambhala Publications, pages not numbered, Shunyata can be explained in a very simple way. […] In the shunyata experience, the attention is on the field rather than on its contents."
Example
More examples"1993, Sunyata, Emptiness and Self-emptying, Kenosis by Ven. Dr. Rewata Dhamma published in Buddhist - Christian Dialogue London, 27th March However since emptiness empties itself and so cannot itself be an object of attachment, dynamic 'sunyata' empties itself out as just the things themselves."
Etymology
From Sanskrit शून्यता (śūnyatā), from शून्य (śūnya, “zero, nothing”) + ता (-tā, “generalizing suffix”). Cognate with Pali suññatā.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.