Tibetan Dictionaries and Glossaries
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Each item on this page comes with the TibetD Reader software needed for viewing
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a • digital Tibetan library. There
are many items on this site, including the ones on this page, that can be
used as content for the library.
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we obtain more financial support, we are planning on making as much as we
can of the content here free.
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Operating Systems supported
• Our dictionaries were originally written in a format that works with
the Windows version of TibetD Reader.
• Later, we added a version in a format that works with a Macintosh,
Linux, and Windows cross-platform version of the TibetD Reader; Mac and Linux
users will generally want to use that where available though it does not have the
special reference library features and cannot display pecha-formatted text such
as is available on our free text pages. For that reason, some Mac users
purchase the Windows version and run it under Parallels or VMWare to gain full
access to all features. Some Linux users run it under Wine or one of the other
solutions available for Windows software running on Linux.
• We also have an online version of our flagship dictionary, The Illuminator, available on the internet.
• Other formats are being developed at the moment.
The Windows-specific version of TibetD Reader has many features that the other versions do not have. For example,
it has features needed to start and use a digital reference library. Details of setting up an digital library can be
found • here. The
Windows-specific Reader also has the ability to read any of the free texts and reference works on this
site, which the other versions cannot do. For this reason, we usually recommend that Mac and Linux users
purchase the Windows-specific version of a dictinary and then run it under Windows emulation software such as Parallels
or VM on the Mac. They can then make use of the digital library features and access at all of the free texts. Quite
a few people do this.
If you have questions about the above, try asking other users on our PKTC
Yahoo group.
Screenshot of the Illuminator Tibetan-English Dictionary running under the Windows version
of TibetD Reader:
Screenshot of the same record running under the Mac, Linux, Windows cross-platform version of TibetD Reader:
Notes on Three Dictionaries
The Illuminator, Sarat Chandra Das, and Geshe Chodrak dictionary packages contain
two editions of their respective dictionaries: one edition uses actual Tibetan script and shows English
transliteration for assistance; the other shows Tibetan in English transliteration with Tibetan script
shown only for assistance. This allows users who prefer to work directly in Tibetan to do so and
those who prefer to work directly in Wylie to do so. Note that there is a Wylie keyboard built
into the Windows-specific TibetD Reader software. This keyboard lets you type in Wylie which is automatically
converted to Tibetan text as you type. Thus, it is possible to use the Tibetan text version
of a dictionary if that is your preference, yet do your typing for lookups and searches using a
Wylie keyboard if that is easiest for you.
Academics and Non-academics equally supported
Our products are highly thought of both by both academics and buddhist practitioners and we go out
of our way to provide for both worlds. The person behind all of the products and the author of
the Illuminator dictionary is Lama Tony Duff, who has a full post-graduate academic training
and has also been a Buddhist monk, translator, scholar, and practitioner during a span of nearly
forty years. Tony specifically tries to work with both worlds without favouring
either. For this reason we keep the needs of academics in mind and do have special
programs for them. If you are an academic with students, please know that we are
here to assist you. For example, Prof. Jose Cabezon at the University of California
recently arranged a licence with us where the university library gained full access to the
products listed below and where EACH student in his Tibetan studies program for the unlimited
future will receive their own, personal copy of the dictionaries to keep. If you would
like to have your students using our products like this or in some other way as an adjunct for
your teaching, we would be happy to discuss the matter further with you. Tony travels and
gives lectures and demonstrations on the software and on Tibetan grammar, which is one of his
specialties. He recently gave demonstrations at Bonn, University of Virginia, and other universities.
Lifetime Subscription for Updates
The Illuminator Dictionary is a work in progress. A major update to the dictionary
is produced at regular intervals. The updates are available either by purchasing a new
copy of the dictionary or by purchasing a lifetime subscription to the dictionary. Subscribers
are notified by e-mail of each update to the dictionary and sent simple instructions for
the update. This is available only for the Windows-specific version of the Illuminator at the
moment. The online internet version of the Illuminator is regularly updated so offers
another way to have an always up-to-date version of the dictionary.
Index of Titles Available
Click on a title to go to the full description or scroll down to the page to see all items, one
by one:
Full Descriptions of Titles Available
The Illuminator Tibetan-English Dictionary• Windows version • Windows version lifetime subscription to updates • Internet, online version • Macintosh / Linux cross-platform version • iPhone, iPad, and so on versions are under development | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The first modern and high quality Tibetan-English dictionary in electronic format. This is not like the other electronic dictionaries available which are a conglomeration of materials garnered from pre-existing translations and other sources. Rather, it has been created entry by entry by a scholar of many years experience who lives and works in daily contact with Tibetan scholars and translates for the great teachers of the Tibetan Buddhist world. Each entry is produced by individually translating and explaining the terms involved.
The above is fully supported in third-party reviews by academics. These reviews
have been scathing in their reports of the problems and mistakes found in dictionaries such as
The Rangjung Yeshe Dictionary, a dictionary that seems to maintain its popularity simply
on the basis of the author’s charisma and the (highly exaggerated) claims of large size. On
the other hand, the reviews have been very complimentary towards the Illuminator Dictionary, citing
absence of mistakes, excellence of presentation, and the exceptional and forward-looking quality
of the work contained in the Illuminator Dictionary. One such review is by Prof. Jan Sobisch. Academics are
not the only ones to point out the difference. Serious translators know the difference and do
make the same point. You can read a variety of unsolicited reviews here but the
following quote by a translator/practitioner in North America says it all, “Lama Tsondru la describes how the terms should really be and then tells me to look them up in your dictionary and they always correspond. This just doesn’t happen with other dictionaries…” Chris Vicevich. Both versions of the dictionary can be searched either by Tibetan text or the transliterated form, whichever is easiest for the user. Once an entry is found, there will be a clear definition in good English. Long commentaries are often given. These commentaries come from the author’ wealth of knowledge, given his extensive study and practice with Gelug, Kagyu, and Nyingma traditions over more than thirty years. Moreover, chunks of relevant Tibetan text are often included, together with their translations. For example, there is a translation of the history of the Chod lineage translated from a Drigung empowerment text, and a complete translation of the section on interdependent origination from Tsongkhapa’ Great Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, many excerpts from grammar texts and their translations, and so on. The dictionary is more than just an encyclopaedic reference. Its arrangement is deliberately made to aid people who are trying to learn the language. For example, many words in the definitions are given in Tibetan immediately followed by the translation of the Tibetan. On the one hand, the reader does not need to look up the Tibetan because the translation is there. On the other, the exact Tibetan term is definitively known. And to make it even more effective as a research and/or learning tool, most of these Tibetan terms are hyper-linked to their definition so that, if more information is needed, it can be immediately looked up. There are, of course, extensive go to and return capabilities in the software so that a definition of a word can be viewed on the fly then an immediate return to where the reader left off can be made. The definitions have a well-defined layout that is consistently applied. Terms are divided into parts of speech, such as nouns, verbs, and so on. The level to which this has been done is unique and gives a guide to the language not available elsewhere. Furthermore, the various levels of meaning for any given part of speech are clearly separated. The meanings are usually given in order of most common usage to least common usage. The dictionary is the first serious attempt to settle translation terminology. It does this not by proclaiming that every English translation is correct, though in many cases it does show that previously used translation equivalents are incorrect or at least suspect. It does this by giving the full range of meaning contained in the Tibetan term and then assessing which English words match that. In doing so, it often shows various translation equivalents that have been used in the past and shows why some are correct, some incorrect, and some partially correct. These commentaries are given not to try to support the author’ contention that his translation is correct per se but to highlight the meaning of the term under consideration and to show, using careful dissection, which English words match with that meaning, partially match it and how, or do not match with it. In this way, the dictionary is the first serious attempt to produce a set of translation equivalents that can be reliably used for the future. In many cases this cannot be done because there is no English term that covers the entire range of meaning of the Tibetan term. In that case, the dictionary says so and, with some key terms, even suggests new words that could be created using the roots of the language. Here are some specific features of the dictionary:
As with all of the other dictionaries listed on this page, support for this dictionary has been built into the TibetD Reader and TibetDoc software so that the dictionary can be easily used in conjunction with work done in them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sarat Chandra Das’s Tibetan-English Dictionary; A New, Corrected Edition• Windows version • Macintosh / Linux cross-platform version | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Our electronic edition of Sarat Chandra Das’s Tibetan-English dictionary is a completely
new edition of the dictionary. It is the original but with the English carefully edited
to clean it up and make it suitable for use in electronic form. The editorial work was
done according to academic standards. All changes have been noted and comments made as
needed. For example, there are terms whose spellings are clearly mistaken; the definition
given belongs to a different spelling. These have all been left but a full notation given
as to what we think the definition should refer to. The electronic version gives access to a large body of information that has always been in the dictionary but which frequently could not be accessed because the information was provided in places where the reader might not think to look. Many people think that the dictionary is out of date or of no value but that is quite incorrect. There is a wealth of information in the original not usually found merely by looking at the paper edition but which becomes readily available in the electronic edition. The dictionary is outdated when it comes to buddhist terminology and there are many mistakes in terms of verb spellings and so on. The Illuminator Dictionary has supplanted Sarat Chandra Das’s dictionary in many ways and should be used as a base dictionary. However, Sarat Chandra Das’s dictionary does provide large amounts of information concerning botanics, medicine, ancient Indian history, and so on that do not appear in any other resource. We find it essential as a second dictionary resource. As with all of the other dictionaries listed on this page, support for this dictionary has been built into the TibetD Reader and TibetDoc software so that the dictionary can be easily used in conjunction with work done in them. |
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Geshe Chodrak’s Tibetan-Tibetan Dictionary• Windows version • Macintosh / Linux cross-platform version | There have not been many native Tibetan dictionaries. The few that were made in earlier times
were almost unusable because they were written in a style that did not allow
for easy look-up of terms. In the 20th century, three dictionaries
were made that were, for the first time, usable as dictionaries. The
first was made in Lhasa in the 1940’ prior to the Communist takeover.
It was the dictionary presented here, made by Geshe Chodrak with the assistance
of the remarkably erudite and modern scholar, Gendun Chophel. The two
other major dictionaries were made in the 1970’ and 1980’ after the Communist
takeover; they are the. dag yig gsar sgrigs New Style of Compilation
Pure Letters and the bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo The Great Chinese-Tibetan
Dictionary. All three dictionaries are useful. However, the
two later dictionaries have both been considerably influenced by Chinese
thought and needs, often in a way detrimental to the contents of the dictionary.
Geshe Chodrak’ dictionary on the other hand has was written in a purely
Tibetan situation without another culture overseeing the work and insisting
on changes that suited its own needs. Geshe Chodrak’s dictionary is not as useful as the other two dictionaries when it comes to verbs. The other two dictionaries just mentioned lay out all of the tense forms for each verb and do a much better job of it. The best reference for Tibetan verbs these days is not a Tibetan-Tibetan dictionary but the iIlluminator Tibetan-English Dictionary which makes a special point of presenting all Tibetan verbs in the most complete and correct way possible. On the other hand, Geshe Chodrak’s dictionary does feature short but precise definitions and does include obscure terms not found elsewhere, making it extremely useful to students of the language at all levels. It will be particularly useful for students who are advanced enough to want to start using a Tibetan-Tibetan dictionary but who cannot penetrate the difficult and terse language of the Tshigdzo Chenmo Dictionary. As with all of the other dictionaries listed on this page, support for this dictionary has been built into the TibetD Reader and TibetDoc software so that the dictionary can be easily used in conjunction with work done in them. |
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The Decoding Golden Mirror, a Tibetan-Tibetan Dictionary • Windows version • Macintosh / Linux cross-platform version | This dictionary containing about 5000 entries specializes in older terms that
are often used in dharma texts but hard to find in normal dictionaries. The dictionary
is Tibetan-Tibetan so it is not for novices. However, for those doing serious work
it is a gem. It gives quotes from various other dictionaries or texts to highlight
the meaning of words. Unlike the Tshigdzod Chenmo which usually has very pithy
entries that can be hard to get an exact meaning from, this dictionary has much
longer entries with very clear illustrations of the meaning. Here is an example
illustrating those features. This is the text of the first entry: ཀ་ 1) འདོད་པའི་དོན་ལ་འཇུག་སྟེ། «དག་ཡིག་ལེགས་བཤད་ཚིག་གཏེར་»ལས། ཀ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་འདོད་པ་ཡིན། །ཞེས་བྱུང་། 2) རྩ་བ་དང་གདོད་མའི་དོན་ལ་འཇུག་སྟེ། «དག་ཡིག་ལེགས་བཤད་ཚིག་གཏེར་»ལས། ཀ་ནི་རྩ་བ་ཞེས་པར་གྲགས། །ཞེས་དང་། «ངག་སྒྲོན་གྱི་འགྲེལ་པ་»ལས། ཀ་ཞེས་པ་གདོད་མ་ནས་དང་། ཞེས་གསུངས། དཔེར་ན། «རྒྱལ་པོ་བཀའ་ཡི་ཐང་ཡིག་»ལས། དབྱེར་མེད་ལྷུན་རྫོགས་སྙིང་པོ་ཀ་ནས་དག །ཅེས་པ་ལྟ་བུའོ།། Here is what it says. 1) Ka is used to mean (don la ’jug pa) “desire”; it says in the Correct Lettering Well Explained Dictionary “‘ka’ is for desire”… We strongly recommend this dictionary as a basic tool for any serious translation work. See the comments in the description of the next dictionary, the Tshigdzo Chenmo, about its usefulness in relation to other Tibetan-Tibetan dictionaries. As with all of the other dictionaries listed on this page, support for this dictionary has been built into the TibetD Reader and TibetDoc software so that the dictionary can be easily used in conjunction with work done in them. |
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Revised Edition of the Tshigdzo Chenmo Dictionary, Tibetan-Tibetan Edition • Windows version • Macintosh / Linux cross-platform version | This is a fully revised edition of The Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary
(bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo). The basis for the revised edition is
the very first edition of the dictionary, published on paper in the 1970’s
in China. At the time when we started work on a revised edition that would
be more suited to the needs of non-Tibetans, the Asian Classics Input Project had
already made a digital version of the original. We thought it would save
time to use their digital version as a basis
for our revised edition, but we found that their version had chunks of pages
of the original missing from it and innumerable mistakes, ommissions,
and additions. The work was unbelievably shoddy, despite their claims to the
contrary. Having done the necessary research, we would like to issue a clear warning:
at the time of writing (2011) the ACIP edition has been used as the basis for
several, free digital versions. These
versions all are missing significant portions of the original and are plagued with the
same innumerable mistakes and so on just mentioned. Using them is not a good idea at
all. It happens too often in the Tibetan Buddhist world that being for free, as
ACIP’s edition is, over-rides all considerations of quality and accuracy, with the
result that poor quality materials flourish these days when they should instead disappear! On seeing the problems with ACIP’s version, we decided to start from the beginning and do the work perfectly. We input the entire text and then corrected it in the Drukpa Kagyu Heritage Project offices where there was an abundance of good typists and scholars. We then edited the text to make the improved, revised version that we intended to produce. The input and basic correction work took two full years and the editorial work took another year. Every single word in the original was checked twice. We found the original to be very clean, so we changed no definitions. However, we found that a number of Tibetan words were mis-spelled and, especially, that nearly all of the transliterated Sanskrit was mis-spelled. We corrected all of that, which resulted in a substantially improved version of the dictionary (a partial list of those changes is included in a record at the beginning of our new version of the dictionary). Then we made a major change to the dictionary; the original comes with definitions in both Tibetan and Chinese but we wanted a version with Tibetan only. Therefore, we carefully removed the Chinese text. This had to be done carefully because the Chinese definitions in the original function both as definitions and as dividers which signal the ends of multiple definitions within one item. Therefore, we did not simply delete the Chinese text but replaced it with a mark that would distinguish between multiple definitions. With a very wry sense of humour (we are practitioner scholars and do have a sense of humour), the Chinese letter “Han”—which literally means “Chinese”—was used for the purpose. The result was an entirely new version of the dictionary, with substantial improvements to the text and the feature which many Westerners had requested of being Tibetan-Tibetan only. The dictionary has just over 55,000 definitions in it, making it the most comprehensive Tibetan-Tibetan dictionary available. (Eric Schmidt’s Rangjung Yeshe dictionary is advertised with 80,000 and even 120,000 entries but that is seriously mis-leading; the truth is that there are only 30,000+ non-duplicated, valid entries in it. The Illuminator Dictionary, which has no invalid or duplicated entries has at writing 28,000 entries. Sarat Chandra Das has 22,000. Thus, you can see that Tshigdzo Chenmo as it is usually called has a very high number of entries.) The dictionary has the failing that it is not easy to read. Definitions tend to be very short and terse so, unless you are already well-versed in Tibetan language, it is easy to go astray based on what is said. There is also the problem for non-Tibetans that it really is written according to Tibetan mind, so again, unless one is very well versed in Tibetan ways of thinking and speaking, it is very easy to use this dictionary and go wrong. That is not a criticism of the dictionary. To the contrary, it is an assessment for potential Western users of the dictionary of the value of the dictionary. In short, this is not a dictionary for beginners; it is a real Tibetan-Tibetan dictionary made for Tibetans which demands a good knowledge of the language to be of use. Of course, for non-Tibetans who know how to read a Tibetan dictionary and who have a reasonable grasp of the language, our modified version of the dictionary with Tibetan-Tibetan only is a very valuable resource. We would say that the Illuminator is the most important Tibetan-English dictionary for non-Tibetans of all levels, followed by Sarat Chandra Das, followed by the Mahavyutpatti. Then for Tibetan-Tibetan dictionaries, we would put Decoding Golden Mirror first because it is written in the style of an English dictionary and because it supports dictionaries like the Illuminator by providing many arcane words not found elsewhere. Next would be our version of the Tshigdzo Chenmo. Geshe Chodrak’s dictionary might be good for beginners who want to become acquainted with a Tibetan-Tibetan dictionary or want very simple definitions or those who are more advanced and simply want every resource possible. As with all of the other dictionaries listed on this page, support for this dictionary has been built into the TibetD Reader and TibetDoc software so that the dictionary can be easily used in conjunction with work done in them. |
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The Mahavyutpatti Sanskrit-Tibetan-English GlossaryWindows version only | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Mahavyutpatti is a Tibetan
text that was prepared in the 9th century C.E. at the command of Tibetan
king Tri Ralpachen. The translations of Buddhist texts that had been
made up to that time were inconsistent because Tibetan terminology for the
terms in the original Sanskrit texts was not settled. Thus the king
decreed that his principal translators should make a glossary of Sanskrit
terms and Tibetan equivalents first then should use it to revise all of the
Tibetan translations of buddhist texts done up till that time. The translators did so, and
the new glossary contained an extensive listing of Sanskrit terms followed
by Tibetan terms which were set down by royal decree as the official
Tibetan equivalents (skad dod) of the Sanskrit ones. The glossary
became a basis for making not only the revised translations of the time but all of the the translations that
happened over the next several centuries. Thus it effectively settled
much of Tibetan buddhist terminology for the future. The name Mahavyutpatti is the short translation back into Sanskrit by its authors, of the Tibetan name given to it: lo paN mang pos mdzad pa&rsquoi bye brag rtogs byed chen mo. The name translates into The Great Work Made by Many Lotsawas and Pandits that Brings Comprehension of Particulars. The Mahavyutpatti was first translated into English by the European man Alexander Csoma de Körös and the first part published in Calcutta 1834 by the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal. The Society published a second portion in 1910 and the third and final portion in 1944. We have used these as a basis for a fully searchable, electronic edition of the entire work that contains English, Tibetan, and Sanskrit equivalents. The electronic edition should be of immense value to those studying and translating the Tibetan language. This edition is made even more useful by the fact that the TibetD Reader software allows it to be used in conjunction with the other dictionaries listed above. Körös’ English translations are often remarkably good, though they are mistaken in some cases. If you have one of our other dictionaries, and the Illuminator is recommended for the purpose, you can click on a term in the Mahavyutpatti and immediately see an up to date translation of the term with a full commmentary and links to related subjects included. For this reason, we recommend the Mahavyutpatti not for use alone but for use with our other dictionaries. |
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Dictionary of Learned and Accomplished People Who Appeared in Tibet by modern Tibetan authors Western style book presented as a searchable database, 2200 pages and 2250 entries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An extensive dictionary of important people of Tibet. The dictionary contains entries for a little over 2250 people
who appeared in Tibet over the last 1400 years. It includes kings, their ministers, and, of course, a very
large number of spiritual practitioners. The dictionary lists the names in alphabetical order, with each name having
a short to medium length biography attached. The biographies include birth, death, and usually many other important
dates for the person, and give quite a lot of information about each person’s life. In the case of
spiritual practitioners, information about the teachings received and their teachers and then the disciples
who studied with them is given. In Tibetan culture, there are often multiple names for any given person and this
dictionary often contains several names for any one person, making it a particularly valuable
resource. Furthermore, a wealth of names not listed as entries in the dictionary are included in
the various biographies and these names can easily be found using the various special lookup features
of the TibetD Reader software provided with the dictionary. Where possible names have been hyperlinked for ease of use. The dictionary is a Tibetan-Tibetan dictionary with an informative introduction in English
by Lotsawa Tony Duff. The dictionary works in conjunction with all of our electronic dictionaries
and texts and can be made part of an electronic reference centre as described elsewhere on this site. We
strongly recommend this dictionary as a standard reference for all serious students of Tibetan culture, and
especially people doing translation work. |
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Chronological Dictionary of Tibetan Luminaries Windows version only | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A research list from Ven. Matthieu Ricard which has been edited and compiled as a dictionary by Lotsawa Tony Duff. The dictionary is available for free download. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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House of Cloves, A Nice Explanation that Shows the Difference Between New and Old Terms of the Tibetan Language | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This is a Tibetan text known to Tibetan scholars. It consists of a long list of old terms and their new equivalents so will be
of interest to those involved with language studies and translation. Unfortunately, the listing is very terse
and not always well arranged, with the result that it is particularly hard to decipher. Therefore the entire listing of terms
and associated information has been incorporated by us into the The Illuminator Tibetan-English Dictionary so
that is the best way to see and understand the contents of the text. Nonetheless, the text is particular rare and is being offered here to scholars who might find it useful. In fact, the original which is in the possession of Lama Tony Duff is quite possibly the only copy extant. There is another edition without Sanskrit equivalents included but this seems to be an abbreviated version of the very old edition in Lama Tony’s possession. This makes it even more interesting, of course. We provide a TibetD file to make the contents as useful as possible but we also provide a PDF so that anyone could access it. For a little more information on the text, see the entry on the free texts page. |
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