gassho
gassho noun: a ritual gesture of Eastern origin, with hands pressed together in front of the chest. It can be used for prayer or as a sign of greeting, gratitude, reverence, or apology. When performed with a bow, it is called gassho rei.
Noun
gassho (plural gasshos)
Verb
gassho (third-person singular simple present gasshos, present participle gasshoing, simple past and past participle gasshoed)
- To make this gesture.
Synonyms of gassho
Forms of gassho
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | gasshos |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | gasshos |
| present participle | gasshoing |
| past participle | gasshoed |
| past | gasshoed |
Origin of gassho
From Japanese 合掌 (gasshō), from Middle Chinese 合掌 (ɣop-tʃáng, “Buddhist-style pressed-palm gesture of piety”) (compare Mandarin 合掌 (hézhǎng), Cantonese 合掌 (hap⁶ jeung²)), from 合 (“unite”) and 掌 (zhǎng, “palm”).
Questions about gassho
- What does gassho mean?
- Gassho means a ritual gesture of Eastern origin, with hands pressed together in front of the chest. It can be used for prayer or as a sign of greeting, gratitude, reverence, or apology. When performed with a bow, it is called gassho rei.
- What part of speech is gassho?
- Gassho can be a noun or a verb.
- What is the plural of gassho?
- The plural of gassho is gasshos.
Words near gassho in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gassho (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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