The Death of Fissiparous and Other Words: A Dictionary of Words & Phrases on the Verge of Extinction

yojana

YO-ja-nuh

noun

a general unit of distance, approximately eight kilometers (5 miles) but varying between 6.5 to 16 kilometers

1879Sir Edwin ArnoldThe Light of AsiaI shall recite how many sun-motes lie From end to end within a yojana.1900Epiphanius WilsonHindu LiteratureBut Nala answered: 'Far it lies behind; A yojana already we have passed; We cannot turn again to pick it up.'1903Johann George BuehlerOn the Indian Sect of the JainasA Palya is a period in which a well, of one or, according to some, a hundred yojana, i.e. of one or a hundred geographical square miles, stuffed full of fine hairs, can be emptied, if one hair is pulled out every hundred years

Labels: Epiphanius Wilson, Johann George Buehler, Sir Edwin Arnold

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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laity

LAY-uh-tee

noun

a group of ordinary persons not possessing the particular professional credentials or specific skills of another group; non-clergy members of a religious group

1859Washington IrvingThe Life of George WashingtonHunting came next to war in those days, as the occupation of the nobility and gentry. The clergy engaged in it equally with the laity.1901Anna M. GalbraithThe Four Epochs of Woman's LifeThe author takes this opportunity to thank the medical profession and the laity for the very cordial reception which has been tendered the first edition of this small volume. The necessity for the use of technical expressions in a book written expressly for the laity must always be a matter of regret.1903Johann George BuehlerOn the Indian Sect of the JainasAs their doctrine, like Buddha's, is originally a philosophical ethical system intended for ascetics, the disciples, like the Buddhists, are, divided into ecclesiastics and laity.

Labels: Anna M. Galbraith, Johann George Buehler, Washington Irving

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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Moksha

mok-SHUH

noun

heaven; freedom from the cycle of life; Nirvana

1903Johann George BuehlerOn the Indian Sect of the JainasLike all religions of the Hindus founded on philosophical speculation, Jainism sees this highest goal in Nirvana or Moksha, the setting free of the individual from the Samsara—the revolution of birth and death.

Labels: Johann George Buehler

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Entry By: CJ Cooney
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