English

Proper noun

Meru

1. (mythology, religion, usually with "Mount") The abode of the gods at the center of the universe in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist traditions.
   • 2003, J. Dina Bagdel, John C. Huntington Buddhist Cosmology: Environment of Meditative Transformation: Mount Meru, John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, Robert A. F. Thurman, The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art, page 66,

     Buddhist realizations and transformations take place in a sacred meditational space known as Mount Meru, or Sumeru. In Western-language literature, the Mount Meru system is often construed as the "Buddhist universe," but this description is misleading as it implies a singular phenomenon. The Mount Meru system is indeed an expression of Buddhist cosmology, but it describes structure of the cosmos.

   • 2013, Eric Huntington, Portrait of a Landscape: Depictions of the Meru Cosmos in Buddhist Art & Culture, Dissertation, University of Chicago.

Usage notes

Usually preceded by Mount. Sumeru is the same name, prefixed by su- ‎(“splendid, wonderful”), but is sometimes used to distinguish the Buddhist traditions regarding the mountain from the Hindu and Jainistic ones.

Synonyms

• (mountain abode of gods in Buddhist, Hindu and Jainistic traditions): Mount Meru, Sumeru

Etymology 2

From Meru Ameru

Proper noun

Meru

1. The Ameru people of Kenya.
2. The Ameru language.
3. A region and county of Kenya where the Ameru people live.

External links

• Ethnologue entry for Meru, mer

Etymology 3

Proper noun

Meru

1. (usually with "Mount") A mountain in the Arusha region of Tanzania.
   • 2009, Dale C. Williams, Leadership and Leadership Development in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania: An Investigation into Patterns and Processes in the Meru Diocese, page 9,

     It was in 1902, six years after the killings, however, that a church and school were built near Akeri, specifically at Nkoaranga on the slopes of Mount Meru (Baroin 1995, 3).

2. A people of northern Tanzania, of the Arumeru district of Arusha region.

Synonyms

• (mountain in Tanzania): Mount Meru

Etymology 4

Proper noun

Meru

1. (usually with "Peak") A mountain in the Indian section of the Himalayas.

Synonyms

• (mountain in India): Meru Peak

Anagrams

• mure