Dictionary

nirvana en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /nəˈvɑː.nə/ (Australia, Received-Pronunciation)
• /nɪɹˈvɑ.nə/ (General-American)
• /nɪəˈvɑː.nə/ (Australia, Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio
• (US) audio
• /nəɹˈvæn.ə/ (General-American)
• /nəɹˈvɑ.nə/ (General-American)
• /nɪrˈvɑːn(ɑː)/ (India)

Etymology

Borrowed from Sanskrit निर्वाण (nirvāṇa, “blown or put out, extinguished”), from निस् (nis, “out”) + वा (vā, “to blow”), the second part cognate with Russian ве́тер (véter, “wind”), weather, vent and wind.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Complete cessation of dukkha; a blissful state attained through realization of sunyata; enlightened experience.
2. (colloquial, countable, qualifier:non-Buddhist, uncountable) State of paradise; heightened or great pleasure or peace; a state of universal perfection and bliss.
   • Welcome to this celebration of legal abortion. I wish January 22 meant more than that. The truth is that we are not winging our way to a state of nirvana for reproductive rights. 1988 February 7, Stephanie Poggi, “What's Choice Got To Do With It?”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 29, page 5:
   • Though we don’t all reach nirvana when we swim, swimming may well be that last refuge from connectivity — and, for some, the only way to find the solitary self. 2014 February 14, Bonnie Tsui, “The Self-Reflecting Pool”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 15 Aug 2021:
   • No, Virginia, the combination of Trump’s tax cuts and tariffs don’t help and, yes, when the AI investment bubble pops GDP growth will drop making the deficit/GDP ratio worse, unless you believe the tech bros hype about AI suddenly delivering universal nirvana. 2026 January 24, Michael Pascoe, “America’s mighty economic power has feet of clay”, in Michael West Media:

Forms

Deriveds

nirvana fallacy · nirvanic · parinirvana · nerdvana · goonvana · nirvanol · Beervana

Synonyms

nibbana

Translations (95)

fi onni (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · xal нирван (state of bliss) · et nirvaana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · kk нирвана (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ms nirwana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ar اَلنِّرْفَانَا (state of bliss) · hu nirvána (state of bliss) · fi nirvana (state of bliss) · ca nirvana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · bn নির্বাণ (state of bliss) · bn নির্বাণ (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · km និព្វាន (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ja 入滅 (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · de Nirwana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · cmn 入寂 (state of bliss) · mnw နိပ်ဗါန် (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · lv nirvāna (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · vi vô vi (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · pt nirvana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · be нірва́на (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · de Nirvana (state of bliss) · hi निर्वाण (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · sv nirvana (state of bliss) · nl nirwana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · xal нирван (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · el νιρβάνα (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ko 해탈 (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · eo nirvano (state of bliss) · de Nirwana (state of bliss) · uk нірва́на (state of bliss) · es nirvana (state of bliss) · mn ᠭᠠᠰᠠᠯᠠᠩ ᠠᠴᠠ ᠨᠥᠭᠴᠢᠭᠰᠡᠨ (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · th นิพพาน (state of bliss) · ko 적멸 (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · my နိဗ္ဗာန် (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · nl nirwana (state of bliss) · id nirwana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · th นิพพาน (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ja 涅槃 (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · bo མྱང་འདས (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · lt nirvana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · et nirvaana (state of bliss) · shn ၼိၵ်ႈပၢၼ်ႇ (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ko 열반 (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ru нирва́на (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · fr nirvana (state of bliss) · ga nirbheána (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ru нирва́на (state of bliss) · cmn 涅槃 (state of bliss) · fr nirvana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ja 入寂 (state of bliss) · ko 해탈 (state of bliss) · si නිවන (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · uk нірва́на (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · vi niết bàn (state of bliss) · my နိဗ္ဗာန် (state of bliss) · la nirvāna (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ja 寂滅 (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ja 涅槃 (state of bliss) · io nirvana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · fi autuus (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · pl nirwana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · sa निर्वाण (state of bliss) · vi tự tại (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ga nirbheána (state of bliss) · ur نروان (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · vi niết bàn (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · mnw နိဗ္ဗာန် (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · io nirvana (state of bliss) · ms nirwana (state of bliss) · ko 니르바나 (state of bliss) · vi an lạc (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · de Nirvana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · hi निर्वाण (state of bliss) · cs nirvána (state of bliss) · sa निर्वाण (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · kn ನಿರ್ವಾಣ (state of bliss) · pl nirwana (state of bliss) · si නිර්වාණ (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ko 열반 (state of bliss) · cmn 涅槃 (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · bo མྱ་ངན་ལས་འདས་པ (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ar اَلنِّرْفَانَا (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · ur نروان (state of bliss) · hu nirvána (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · cmn 圓寂 /圆寂 (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · el νιρβάνα (state of bliss) · yue 涅槃 (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · es nirvana (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · si නිර්වාණ (state of bliss) · pt nirvana (state of bliss) · ko 니르바나 (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · pi nibbāna (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · eo nirvano (Buddhism: cessation of suffering) · lo ນິພານ (Buddhism: cessation of suffering)