Theravada

//ˌtɛrəˈvɑːdə// name, noun

name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A Buddhist of this particular school.
  2. 2
    one of two great schools of Buddhist doctrine emphasizing personal salvation through your own efforts; a conservative form of Buddhism that adheres to Pali scriptures and the non-theistic ideal of self purification to nirvana; the dominant religion of Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand and Laos and Cambodia wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The oldest surviving school of Buddhism based on the earliest recorded teachings of the historical Buddha found in the Pali canon, widely practised in Southeast Asia.

Synonyms

All synonyms
theravada buddhism

Etymology

Transliteration of Pali theravāda, inherited from Sanskrit स्थविरवाद (sthaviravāda, literally “doctrine of the elders”), from स्थविर (sthavira, “elder”) + वाद (vāda, “doctrine”).

Related phrases

sri lanka

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