a rosary; a string of beads
Specifically refers to one full string of Buddhist prayer beads (数珠), often consisting of 108 beads. Used in religious contexts.
Every morning, my grandmother picks up a string of prayer beads and chants sutras.
数珠 is the general term for Buddhist prayer beads, while 数珠一連 specifically means one complete string of them.
Compound of 数珠 (juzu, 'prayer beads') and 一連 (ichiren, 'a string, a series'). The exact historical derivation is straightforward from its components.