Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

dalai lama

/ˈdɑːlaɪ ˈlɑːmə/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.07 in modern English

Syllables
dalai la-ma
IPA
/ˈdɑːlaɪ ˈlɑːmə/
12
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism, believed to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara, and considered the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.

Example Sentences

Etymology

Borrowed from Tibetan ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ (tā la'i bla ma), compound of Mongolian ᠳᠠᠯᠠᠢ (dalai, “ocean”) + Tibetan བླ་མ (bla ma, “lama”).

Word Breakdown

  • Root: ᠳᠠᠯᠠᠢ

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈdɑːlaɪ ˈlɑːmə/
  • British English: /ˈdælaɪ ˈlɑːmə/

Inflected Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Questions

How do you pronounce dalai lama?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈdɑːlaɪ ˈlɑːmə/.
What does dalai lama mean?
The supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism, believed to be an incarnation of Avalokitesvara, and considered the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.
Where does dalai lama come from?
Borrowed from Tibetan ཏཱ་ལའི་བླ་མ (tā la'i bla ma), compound of Mongolian ᠳᠠᠯᠠᠢ (dalai, “ocean”) + Tibetan བླ་མ (bla ma, “lama”).

How to pronounce dalai lama

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “dalai lama”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈdɑːlaɪ ˈlɑːmə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “dalai lama”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “dalai lama” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.