HINDUISM

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Hinduism mean? 

• HINDUISM (noun)
  The noun HINDUISM has 2 senses:

1. the religion of most people in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal

2. a body of religious and philosophical beliefs and cultural practices native to India and based on a caste system; it is characterized by a belief in reincarnation, by a belief in a supreme being of many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils

  Familiarity information: HINDUISM used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HINDUISM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The religion of most people in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

Hindooism; Hinduism

Hypernyms ("Hinduism" is a kind of...):

faith; organized religion; religion (an institution to express belief in a divine power)

Meronyms (members of "Hinduism"):

Hindoo; Hindu (a person who adheres to Hinduism)

Hare Krishna; International Society for Krishna Consciousness; ISKCON (a religious sect founded in the United States in 1966; based on Vedic scriptures; groups engage in joyful chanting of 'Hare Krishna' and other mantras based on the name of the Hindu god Krishna; devotees usually wear saffron robes and practice vegetarianism and celibacy)

Vaishnavism; Vaisnavism (Hindu sect worshiping of Vishnu)

Saktism; Shaktism (a Hindu sect worshiping Shakti)

Shivaism; Sivaism (a Hindu sect worshiping Shiva)

Domain region:

Ceylon; Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka; Sri Lanka (a republic on the island of Ceylon; became independent of the United Kingdom in 1948)

Bangla Desh; Bangladesh; East Pakistan; People's Republic of Bangladesh (a Muslim republic in southern Asia bordered by India to the north and west and east and the Bay of Bengal to the south; formerly part of India and then part of Pakistan; it achieved independence in 1971. In local language, 'Bangladesh' means Land of the Bengalis ('Bangla' means Bengali, 'desh' means land or country))

Bharat; India; Republic of India (a republic in the Asian subcontinent in southern Asia; second most populous country in the world; achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1947)

Kingdom of Nepal; Nepal (a small landlocked Asian country high in the Himalayas between India and China)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Hinduism"):

Brahmanism; Brahminism (the religious and social system of orthodox Hinduism)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A body of religious and philosophical beliefs and cultural practices native to India and based on a caste system; it is characterized by a belief in reincarnation, by a belief in a supreme being of many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

Hindooism; Hinduism

Hypernyms ("Hinduism" is a kind of...):

faith; religion; religious belief (a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny)

Domain member category:

karma ((Hinduism and Buddhism) the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation)

mandala (any of various geometric designs (usually circular) symbolizing the universe; used chiefly in Hinduism and Buddhism as an aid to meditation)

samsara ((Hinduism and Buddhism) the endless cycle of birth and suffering and death and rebirth)

caste ((Hinduism) a hereditary social class among Hindus; stratified according to ritual purity)

jati ((Hinduism) a Hindu caste or distinctive social group of which there are thousands throughout India; a special characteristic is often the exclusive occupation of its male members (such as barber or potter))

varna ((Hinduism) the name for the original social division of Vedic people into four groups (which are subdivided into thousands of jatis))

Arjuna ((Hindu mythology) the warrior prince in the Bhagavad-Gita to whom Krishna explains the nature of being and of God and how humans can come to know God)

Hindu deity (a deity worshipped by the Hindus)

Bengali ((Hinduism) a member of a people living in Bangladesh and West Bengal (mainly Hindus))

guru (a Hindu or Buddhist religious leader and spiritual teacher)

mahatma ((Hinduism) term of respect for a brahmin sage)

saddhu; sadhu ((Hinduism) an ascetic holy man)

enlightenment; nirvana ((Hinduism and Buddhism) the beatitude that transcends the cycle of reincarnation; characterized by the extinction of desire and suffering and individual consciousness)

cycle of rebirth ((Hinduism) repeated rebirth in new forms)

bhakti ((Hinduism) loving devotion to a deity leading to salvation and nirvana; open to all persons independent of caste or sex)

asana ((Hinduism) a posture or manner of sitting (as in the practice of yoga))

matsyendra ((Hinduism) a religious posture)

Bhagavad-Gita; Bhagavadgita; Gita ((Hinduism) the sacred 'song of God' composed about 200 BC and incorporated into the Mahabharata (a Sanskrit epic); contains a discussion between Krishna and the Indian hero Arjuna on human nature and the purpose of life)

Mahabharata; Mahabharatam; Mahabharatum ((Hinduism) a sacred epic Sanskrit poem of India dealing in many episodes with the struggle between two rival families)

Veda; Vedic literature ((from the Sanskrit word for 'knowledge') any of the most ancient sacred writings of Hinduism written in early Sanskrit; traditionally believed to comprise the Samhitas, the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas, and the Upanishads)

mantra ((Sanskrit) literally a 'sacred utterance' in Vedism; one of a collection of orally transmitted poetic hymns)

Kamasutra ((Hinduism) an ancient Sanskrit text giving rules for sensuous and sensual pleasure and love and marriage in accordance with Hindu law)

ahimsa (a Buddhist and Hindu and especially Jainist doctrine holding that all forms of life are sacred and urging the avoidance of violence)

Sanskrit; Sanskritic language ((Hinduism) an ancient language of India (the language of the Vedas and of Hinduism); an official language of India although it is now used only for religious purposes)

moksa ((Hinduism) release from the cycle of rebirth)

Ayurveda ((Sanskrit) an ancient medical treatise summarizing the Hindu art of healing and prolonging life; sometimes regarded as a 5th Veda)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Hinduism"):

Darsana ((from the Sanskrit word for 'to see') one of six orthodox philosophical systems or viewpoints on the nature of reality and the release from bondage to karma)

Mimamsa ((from the Sanskrit word for 'reflection' or 'interpretation') one of six orthodox philosophical systems or viewpoints on ritual traditions rooted in the Vedas and the Brahmanas as opposed to Vedanta which relies mostly on the Upanishads)

Vedanta ((from the Sanskrit for 'end of the Veda') one of six orthodox philosophical systems or viewpoints rooted in the Upanishads as opposed to Mimamsa which relies on the Vedas and Brahmanas)

Krishnaism (worship of Krishna the 8th avatar of Vishnu)

Shivaism; Sivaism (worship of Shiva one of the 3 chief gods of the Hindu pantheon)

Saktism; Shaktism (worship of Shakti as the wife of Shiva)

Vaishnavism; Vaisnavism; Vishnuism (worship of Vishnu one of the 3 chief gods of the Hindu pantheon)

Vedism (the form of Hinduism that revolves primarily around the mythic version and ritual ideologies in the Vedas)