tantra

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun any of a fairly recent class of Hindu or Buddhist religious literature concerned with ritual acts of body and speech and mind
  2. noun doctrine of enlightenment as the realization of the oneness of one's self and the visible world; combines elements of Hinduism and paganism including magical and mystical elements like mantras and mudras and erotic rites; especially influential in Tibet

Etymology

From Sanskrit तन्त्र (tantra), from Proto-Indo-European *ten-tlo- /*tn̥-tlo-, from *ten- (“to stretch, extend”) with the suffix *-tlom denoting instruments. Doublet of tar (“string instrument”).

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