The Term Buddhism

The term Buddhism did not exist in any language until the early 19th century, when scholars coined it in European languages to refer to the newly discovered complex of religious practices centered on the image or memory of the figure called Buddha, the Enlightened One.

Early Buddhists, in fact, used such alternative terms as dharma or dharma vinaya, “law-rules,” to refer to their belief system. In Sanskrit sources, these often became the Buddha Dharma, the “doctrines of the Buddha.”

In Sri Lanka, the teachings are still called sasana, the “teachings,” while in China the traditional term is fojiao (Buddha doctrine or teachings), which is also now used as the translation for the European term Buddhism.

The word Boudhism was introduced in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1801 and emerged as Buddhism in 1816.