Dalai Lama

Borrowed from Tibetan ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ (tā la'i bla ma), compound of Mongolian ᠳᠠᠯᠠᠢ (dalai, “ocean”) + Tibetan བླ་མ (bla ma, “lama”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdælaɪ ˈlɑːmə/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɑːlaɪ ˈlɑːmə/

Dalai Lama (plural Dalai Lamas)

1. (Tibetan Buddhism) The supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism, believed to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara, and considered the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.
   • [1767, Annual register, or a view of the history and politics and literature for the year‎, page 38, column 2:

     Of the Mongall Tartars.
     The Mongalls are a numerous people, and occupy a large extent of country, from this place to the Kallgan, which ſignifies the everlaſting Wall, or the great wall of China. From this wall they ſtretch themſelves northward as far as the river Amoor; and from the Amoor, weſtward, to the Baykail ſea ; where they border with the territories of the Kontayſha, or prince of the black Kalmucks. On the ſouth, they are bounded by a nation called Tonguts, among whom the Delay Lama has his residence.]

   • [1933 December 2, “Tibetan Troops Renew Attack on Sikong”, in The China Weekly Review‎, volume 67, number 1, →OCLC, page 32, column 2:

     Szechuen troops defending recognized Chinese territory against the raids of the Tibetans declare that by crossing the Kinsha River the forces of the Da Lai Lama have violated the recent truce. The truce established the stream as the boundary between Tibet and China Proper.]

   • 2005, Bill Clinton, My Life‎, volume II, New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 435:

     I got a laugh from the Chinese audience when I said I thought that if Jiang and the Dalai Lama did meet, they would like each other very much.

   • 2008, Nancy Pelosi, “A Voice That Will Be Heard”, in Know Your Power: A Message to America's Daughters‎, Doubleday, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 95:

     I was pleased that President George W. Bush presented the Congressional Gold Medal to the Dalai Lama at the Capitol in October 2007.
     In March 2008, I led a Congressional delegation to India. Part of our mission was to meet with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, the headquarters of Tibetan exiles.

   • 2010, George W. Bush, Decision Points‎, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 428:

     At the 2007 APEC Summit in Sydney, I told President Hu I planned to attend a ceremony where the Dalai Lama would receive the Congressional Gold Medal. The Buddhist leader was a source of distress for the Chinese government, which accused him of stirring up separatists in Tibet. I met with the Dalai Lama five times during my presidency, and I found him to be a charming, peaceful man. I told China’s leaders they should not fear him. “This is not meant as a slap at China,” I said, “but as a measure of my respect for the Dalai Lama and for the U.S. Congress. You know my strong belief in religious freedom.”

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Dalai Lama.

• Grand Lama (dated)
• Great Lama (uncommon, dated)

• lama
• Panchen Lama

• IPA^(key): /ˌda(ː)laɪ̯ˈlaːma/

• Audio

  (file)

Dalai Lama m (strong, genitive Dalai Lamas, plural Dalai Lamas)

1. Dalai Lama (head of Tibetan Buddhism)

• “Dalai Lama” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon