เจ้าอยู่หัว

Thai

A 7th-century Cambodian sandstone sculpture of Avalokiteśvara the future buddha, with a buddha figure on his head.

A 13th-century Cambodian sculpture of Avalokiteśvara the future buddha, with a buddha figure on his head.

From เจ้า (jâao, “chief, lord, master; god; priest; royal person; etc”) +‎ อยู่ (yùu, “to be at, in, on, etc; to remain, to stay; etc”) +‎ หัว (hǔua, “head”); literally meaning:

(a) "lord above [all/our/my] head[s]",

(b) "lord at [all/our/my] head[s]", or

(c) "[one with] lord on the head".

The suggested meaning (c) is based on the traditional belief that a future Buddha has a figure of Lord Buddha upon his/her head.

เจ้าอยู่หัว • (jâao-yùu-hǔua)

In modern usage, the term is preceded by พระบาท สมเด็จ พระ (prá-bàat-sǒm-dèt-prá) when applied to a monarch who has been formally crowned, and by สมเด็จ พระ (sǒm-dèt-prá) when applied to a monarch that has not or not yet been formally crowned.

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.