Kanji 寺 Words: Meanings and Readings

寺

てら

temple (Buddhist)

寺院

じいん

Buddhist temple

古寺

こじ

old temple

山寺

やまでら

mountain temple

国分寺

こくぶんじ

state-supported provincial temple (Nara period)

禅寺

ぜんでら

Zen temple

寺小屋

てらこや

temple elementary school (during the Edo period)

寺社

じしゃ

temples and shrines

末寺

まつじ

branch temple

社寺

しゃじ

shrines and temples

菩提寺

ぼだいじ

one's family temple

お寺

おてら

monk

お寺さま

おてらさま

monk

お寺さん

おてらさん

monk

キリシタン寺

キリシタンでら

Christian churches built in Japan in the second half of the 16th century

縁切り寺

えんきりでら

(historic) a temple in which women seeking release from marriage could take refuge

回教寺院

かいきょうじいん

mosque

官寺

かんじ

state-sponsored temples, particularly those favored and protected by the shogunate during the Kamakura period

監主

かんじ

one of the six administrators of a Zen temple who substitutes for the chief priest

宮寺

ぐうじ

Buddhist temple within a Shinto shrine

牛にひかれて善光寺参り

うしにひかれてぜんこうじまいり

doing or receiving something good by accident or through the invitation of someone else

金閣寺

きんかくじ

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (1956 novel by Yukio Mishima)

駆け込み寺

かけこみでら

(women's) refuge

兼務寺

けんむじ

Buddhist temple without a dedicated head priest

古社寺

こしゃじ

old shrines and temples

紅妙蓮寺

べにみょうれんじ

Camellia japonica 'Benimyorenji' (cultivar of common camellia)

荒れ寺

あれでら

dilapidated temple

三井寺歩行虫

みいでらごみむし

Pheropsophus jessoensis (species of bombardier beetle)

四天王寺国際仏教大学

してんのうじこくさいぶっきょうだいがく

Shitennōji International Buddhist University

氏寺

うじでら

shrine built to a guardian deity

私寺

しじ

private temple (ritsuryō period)

寺

じ

counter for temples

寺から里へ

てらからさとへ

putting the cart before the horse

寺域

じいき

temple grounds

寺格

じかく

status of a Buddhist temple

寺号

じごう

temple's name

寺参り

てらまいり

ritual visits to a temple

寺子

てらこ

child who attended a temple school

寺社仏閣

じしゃぶっかく

(Shinto) shrines and (Buddhist) temples

寺社奉行

じしゃぶぎょう

governmental position of the shogunate, responsible for the management of temples and shrines

寺請

てらうけ

certification issued by a temple to prove affiliation

寺請制度

てらうけせいど

terauke system

寺銭

てらせん

fee charged by a gambling house

寺檀制度

じだんせいど

system used during the Edo period where commoners had to register with a temple in order to prove their Buddhist faith

寺男

てらおとこ

male temple employee (esp. one who does odd jobs)

寺中

じちゅう

sub-temple

寺内

じない

inside a temple

寺内町

じないちょう

town built within the semi-fortified compounds of a temple (during the Warring States period)

寺入り

てらいり

incarcerating a criminal in a temple as a form of punishment (popular during the latter Muromachi and Azuchi-Momoyama periods)

寺納豆

てらなっとう

natto made by a temple and given to supporters at the end of the year

寺務

じむ

temple affairs

寺務所

じむしょ

office of a temple

寺預け

てらあずけ

incarcerating a criminal in a temple as a form of punishment (popular during the latter Muromachi and Azuchi-Momoyama periods)

寺領

じりょう

temple's territory

寺刹

じさつ

Buddhist temple

七大寺

しちだいじ

the seven great temples of Nara (Daian-ji, Gango-ji, Horyu-ji, Kofuku-ji, Saidai-ji, Todai-ji, Yakushi-ji)

諸寺

しょじ

various temples

少林寺拳法

しょうりんじけんぽう

Shorinji Kempo (modern Japanese martial art based on Shaolin kung fu)

少林寺拳法世界連合

しょうりんじけんぽうせかいれんごう

World Shorinji Kempo Organization

少林寺拳法連盟

しょうりんじけんぽうれんめい

ShorinjiKempo Federation Foundation

少林寺流

しょうりんじりゅう

Shorin-ryu

神宮寺

じんぐうじ

Buddhist temple within a Shinto shrine

清真寺

せいしんじ

mosque (in China)

誠照寺派

じょうしょうじは

Jōshōji sect (of Shin Buddhism)

全日本少林寺気功協会

ぜんにほんしょうりんじきこうきょうかい

All Japan Shaolin Temple Qigong Association

僧寺

そうじ

Buddhist priest

大覚寺統

だいかくじとう

imperial lineage starting with Emperor Kameyama

大寺

だいじ

large temple

大寺院

だいじいん

large temple

旦那寺

だんなでら

one's family temple

勅願寺

ちょくがんじ

temple built at the order of the emperor

敵は本能寺にあり

てきはほんのうじにあり

his true objective lies elsewhere

都寺

つうす

one of the six administrators of a Zen temple

当寺

とうじ

this temple

道明寺粉

どうみょうじこ

coarse rice powder

南都七大寺

なんとしちだいじ

the seven great temples of Nara (Daian-ji, Gango-ji, Horyu-ji, Kofuku-ji, Saidai-ji, Todai-ji, Yakushi-ji)

南蛮寺

なんばんじ

Christian churches built in Japan in the second half of the 16th century

尼寺

あまでら

nunnery

入寺

にゅうじ

joining a temple as a priest or head priest

廃寺

はいじ

closing a temple

八百八寺

はっぴゃくやでら

the large number of temples in Kyoto

副司

ふうす

one of the six administrators of a Zen temple (in charge of accounting)

仏光寺派

ぶっこうじは

Bukkōji sect (of Shin Buddhism)

仏寺

ぶつじ

Buddhist temple

本願寺派

ほんがんじは

Honganji sect (of Shin Buddhism)

本寺

ほんじ

head temple

本能寺の変

ほんのうじのへん

Honnōji Incident (forced suicide of daimyo Oda Nobunaga by his samurai general Akechi Mitsuhide; June 21, 1582)

万願寺とうがらし

まんがんじとうがらし

Manganji pepper (sweet variety originally from Maizuru, Kyoto)

了徳寺大学

りょうとくじだいがく

Ryotokuji University

脇寺

わきでら

sub-temple