波は羅ら蜜みつ

also: ぱらみつ

は

ら

み

つ

Meanings

noun

pāramitā; perfection; Buddhist perfection

Buddhism

Only with reading はらみつ

Buddhist term for the perfections or virtues cultivated on the path to enlightenment. Often appears in compounds like 六波羅蜜 (six pāramitās).

Kanji

波waves, billows, Poland
羅gauze, thin silk, Rome
蜜honey, nectar, molasses

Related words

波は羅ら蜜み多た
Alternate Buddhist term for pāramitā; 波羅蜜多 is a longer transliteration, while 波羅蜜 is a shorter form.
ジャックフルーツ
Common English loanword for jackfruit; パラミツ is the Japanese name derived from Portuguese.

Word family

六ろく波は羅ら蜜みつ
the six perfections; the six pāramitās
波は羅ら蜜みっ多た
pāramitā; perfection
般はん若にゃ波は羅ら蜜みつ
prajna-paramita; perfection of wisdom

Written forms

波羅蜜Usage100%
- はらみつ
  Kanji spelling for the Buddhist term; reading はらみつ is standard in this context.
- ぱらみつ
  Kanji spelling occasionally used for the fruit, but katakana is strongly preferred.
パラミツ
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling for the fruit; this sense is usually written in kana.
ぱらみつ
Hiragana variant for the fruit; less common than katakana but still used.

Etymology

Sense 1: From Sanskrit pāramitā via Chinese. Sense 2: From Portuguese jaca or Malayalam chakka, possibly via Southeast Asian languages; the reading パラミツ may reflect an older borrowing route.