also: ねんず
Buddhist rosary; prayer beads
A string of beads used in Buddhist practice for counting prayers or mantras. Synonymous with 数珠 (じゅず), which is more common in everyday speech.
See also: 数珠
Every morning, my grandmother prays in front of the family altar with her prayer beads in hand.
I bought a Buddhist rosary at the temple.
Standard kanji spelling for Buddhist prayer beads.
Alternate reading, less common than ねんじゅ.
From Middle Chinese 念珠 (nem-tsyuw, literally 'mindfulness pearl'). The reading ねんず is a variant of ねんじゅ.