Dictionary

daruma en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdɑːɹʊmə/

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese 達磨 (daruma), from Sanskrit धर्म (dhárma, “law; morality; code”), used as a clipping of 菩提達磨 (Bodaidaruma, “Bodhidharma”). Doublet of Dharma.

Meanings

1. A hollow, round, Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen sect of Buddhism.
   • This combination of piety and fun also accounts for the continued popularity of roly-poly darumas, popular doll-like figures named after Bodhidharma. 2012, Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, Suzanne Gay, A Brief History of Japanese Civilization, page 255:
   • Like a daruma doll, you knock it over and it rights itself. 1988 February 19, Janice Perrone, “A Gloom of Their Own”, in Chicago Reader:

Forms

Synonyms

Dharma doll

Translations (6)

ko 달마 (Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma) · ja だるま (Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma) · ko 다루마 (Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma) · ja 達磨 (Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma) · cmn 達摩 /达摩 (Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma) · mr दारुमा (Japanese traditional doll modeled after Bodhidharma)