also: げんせい · げんぜ
noun
this world; this life; the present world
Buddhist term contrasting the present world with the afterlife or past/future existences. Usually read げんせ.
仏教では、現世での行いが来世に影響すると説く。
Buddhism teaches that one's deeds in this world affect the next life.
彼は現世の苦しみから逃れたいと願った。
He wished to escape the suffering of this world.
noun
Holocene epoch; current geological epoch
Only with reading げんせい
Geological term; reading is げんせい. Also referred to as 完新世.
See also: 完新世
現世は約1万年前から続く地質時代である。
The Holocene is a geological epoch that began about 10,000 years ago.
Rare reading for the Buddhist sense; げんせ is the usual reading.
From 現 (present, current) + 世 (world, generation). The Buddhist sense is older; the geological sense is a modern calque.