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Where does the word "dhyana" come from? It comes from Sanskrit dhyana, and was adopted directly into English (19th-20th c.).
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Where does the word "dhyana" come from? It comes from Sanskrit dhyana, and was adopted directly into English (19th-20th c.).
Dhyana’s story begins in Sanskrit: dhyana meant “meditation, contemplation.” From a root meaning 'to think, contemplate'. It reached English by 19th-20th c. as dhyana. First recorded in 1811 in the writing of William Ward, a Baptist missionary at Serampore in Bengal. Today, dhyana means a state of focused meditative contemplation in yoga and Buddhist practice; the root of the word 'Zen'.
- Stage 1 · Sanskrit · ancient dhyana "meditation, contemplation", from a root meaning 'to think, contemplate'.
- Stage 2 · English · 19th-20th c. dhyana "a state of focused meditative contemplation", first recorded in 1811 in the writing of William Ward, a Baptist missionary at Serampore in Bengal.