คว่ำบาตร

Thai

FWOTD – 21 July 2015

Etymology

Monks carrying bowls accept food from donors.

From คว่ำ (kwâm, “to face down; to turn upside down; etc”) +‎ บาตร (bàat, “priest's alms bowl”); literally "to face down a bowl".

The term originated from the practice of Buddhist monks in denouncing laypersons. Laypersons donate food to monks by dropping the food into their bowls. When monks face their bowls down before a layperson, it means the monks refuse to accept food from such layperson and implies that the layperson is rejected or cast out by the monastic community. The facing down of a bowl has been used as a monastic expression of denouncement since the time of Gautama Buddha. For example, the Pāli Canon states that when Prince Vaḍḍha of Licchavī falsely accused the monk Dabba Mallaputra of violating his wife, the Buddha declared to all the monks: "you all shall face your bowls down against Prince Vaḍḍha of Licchavī".

Pronunciation

Orthographic		คว่ำบาตร g w ˋ å ɓ ā t r
Phonemic		คฺว่ำ-บาด g ̥ w ˋ å – ɓ ā ɗ
Romanization	Paiboon	kwâm-bàat
	Royal Institute	khwam-bat
(standard) IPA^(key)		/kʰwam˥˩.baːt̚˨˩/^(R)

Verb

คว่ำบาตร • (kwâm-bàat) (abstract noun การคว่ำบาตร)

(idiomatic) to boycott.
ยูเอ็นคว่ำบาตรเกาหลีเหนือ
yuu-en kwâm-bàat gao-lǐi-nʉ̌ʉa
UN boycotts North Korea.

สหรัฐฯ ร่วม อียูคว่ำบาตรรัสเซีย
sà-hà-rát rûuam ii-yuu kwâm-bàat rát-siia
US joins EU in boycotting Russia.

Related terms

หงายบาตร (literally “to face up a bowl”)

References

Royal Society of Thailand. (2009-09-25). "Kwâm-bàat" คว่ำบาตร (in Thai). Bangkok: Royal Society of Thailand. Retrieved: 2015-07-20.
Royal Society of Thailand. (2010-06-02). "Kwâm-bàat" คว่ำบาตร (in Thai). Bangkok: Royal Society of Thailand. Retrieved: 2015-07-20.