Glossary of Pali terms

Below is a quick glossary on common Pali terms encountered when beginning to study Theravada Buddhism. A much more comprehensive Pali Dictionary, completely with literary quotes for some of the terms, can be found at Urban Dharma. And a Pali forum is located at Yahoo Groups, called The Pali Collective.

Acariya - a teacher; regular instructor
Anagami - non-returner; one who has attained the third stage of holiness
Anatta - adj. no soul; soulless; not-self.
Anicca - impermanent; transient
Arahant - worthy one; perfected one; one who has attained Nirvana/Nibbana arammana
Sense-objects - an object of consciousness; preoccupation
Ariyasacca - noble Truth
Arupajhana - the ( four ) Absorptions of the Formless Sphere
Atta - self; soul; ego; personal entity
Bhava - becoming; existence; process of becoming;state of existence
Bhavatanha - craving for existence; craving for rebirth
Brahma - a divine being of the Form Sphere or of the Formless Sphere
Cankama - walking up and down as a method of concentration development
Citta- thought; mind; a state of consciousness
Dhamma - 1. the Doctrine; the teachings of the Lord Buddha the Norm; the Law; nature the Truth; Ultimate Reality the supermundane, esp. Nirvana/Nibbana righteousness; virtue; morality; good conduct; right behavior tradition; practice; principle; rule; dutyjustice; impartiality thing; phenomenon
9. a cognisable object; mind-object; idea 10. mental state; mental factor; mental activities 11. condition; cause; causal antecedent
Dhatu - an element; natural condition; that which carries its own characteristic mark
Dukkha - 1. suffering; misery; woe; pain; ill; sorrow; trouble; discomfort; unsatisfactoriness; problematic situation; stress; conflict 2. physical or bodily pain ekaggata one-pointedness of mind
Jhana - meditation; absorption; a state of serene contemplation attained by meditation
Karma/Kama - sense-desire; desire; sensuality; an object of sensual enjoyment; sensual pleasures. Kamatanha - sensual craving; craving for sensual pleasures
Kamavacara - belonging to the Sense Sphere aggregate; category defilements; impurities; impairments the Path; the Way; the Noble Path; the Noble Eightfold Path; the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering wrong
Khandha - aggregate; category
Micchoditthi - view; false view knowledge; real knowledge; wisdom; insight Nirvana; the extinction of the fires of greed, hatred and ignorance; the Unconditioned;
Kilesa - defilements; impurities; impairements
Magga - the path; the way; the Noble Path; the Noble Eightfold Path; the Path leading to the Cessation of Suffering
Michaditthi - wrong view; false view
Nana - knowledge; real knowledge; wisdom; insight
Nibbana/Nirvana - Nirvana; extinction of the fires of greed, hatred and ignorance, the unconditioned; the Final Goal; the supreme goal of Buddhism
Nirodha - the Cessation or Extinction of suffering
Panna - wisdom; knowledge; intelligence; insight; discernment; reason
Parikamma - recitation; mental repetion
Pariyatti - the Scriptures; study of the Scriptures; the Teachings to be studied
Peta - the ghost of the departed
Rupajhana - absorption of the Fine-Material Sphere
Sikkapada - 1. morality; moral code 2. a precept; rule of morality; training rule
Sacca - the Truth; truth
Sakadagami - a Once-Returner; one who has attained the second stage of the Path and will be reborn on the earth only once before attaining final emancipationsamadhi
Samadhi - concentration; one-pointedness of mind
Samatha - calm; tranquility; quietude of heart
Sammati - convention; agreement; supposition; conventional truth
Samsara - lit. faring on; the Round of Rebirth; the Round of Existence; the Wheel of Rebirth; the Wheel of Life
Samudaya - the Cause of Suffering; the Origin of Suffering
Sangho/Sangha - Buddhist monks; Noble Disciples
Sankhara - 1. compounded things; component things; conditioned things; the world of phenomena; all things which have been made up by pre-existing causes 2. volitional activities; mental formations;
mental predispositions; volitional impulses; impulses and emotions; volition; all the mental factors except feeling and perception having volition as theconstant factor
Sati - mindfulness; attentiveness; detached watching;
Sotapana - a Stream-Enterer, one who attained the first stage of holiness
Tanha - craving; desire; thirst
Tilakkhana - the Three Characteristics; the Three Signs of Being; also called the Common Characteristics
Tipitaka - lit. the Three baskets; the Three Divisions of the Buddhist Canon, viz., Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma ( generally known as the Pali Canon )
Vatta - the round of rebirth; the round of existences; the cycle of rebirth
Vibhavatanha - craving for non-existence
Vipassana - insight; contemplation; insight development
Yogavacara - one who practises spiritual exercise; meditator