Japanese

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For pronunciation and definitions of ほとけ – see the following entry.
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[noun] (Buddhism) a buddha (enlightened or awakened sentient being)
[noun] (Buddhism) a statue or image of any buddha
[noun] a departed soul, deceased
[noun] (colloquial) a term that a parent calls a child expressing parental affection, equivalent to “my dear
[noun] (religion) Buddhism
[noun] (Buddhism) performing a Buddhist memorial service
[proper noun] (Buddhism) the Sakyamuni Buddha, Nepalese spiritual and philosophical teacher and founder of Buddhism: Siddhartha Gautama
[proper noun] (Buddhism) any of the other buddhas named in Buddhist scriptures
(This term, ほとけ (hotoke), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)
For a list of all kanji read as ほとけ, see Category:Japanese kanji read as ほとけ.)

Old Japanese

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Noun

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ほとけ (poto2ke2)

  1. : carving, image, statue, or other likeness of a buddha