Our trilingual glossary combining entries from all of our publications into one useful resource, giving translations and definitions of thousands of terms, people, places, and texts from the Buddhist canon.
མིའམ་ཅི། | Glossary of Terms
མིའམ་ཅི།
mi’am ci
kinnara
- Term
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Hindu literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal (horse or bird). They are also usually depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.
They are one of the eight classes of nonhuman beings (sde brgyad po, *aṣṭasenā) said to have been present when the Buddha taught the Mahāyāna sūtras.
- Kinnara
- མི་མ་ཡིན་པ།
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi ma yin pa
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings, whose female counterpart is the kinnarī. They resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. See also UT22084-001-006-4116.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kiṃnara
A mythical hybrid being with the body of a man and the head of a horse or vice versa.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
- kiṃnara
A class of nonhuman beings that are half human, half animal. Typically they have animal heads atop human bodies. The term literally means “Is that human?”
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of nonhuman beings that are half-human, half-animal. Typically they have animal heads atop human bodies. The term literally means “Is that human?”
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A semidivine being, partly human (“Is this a man?”) and musically skilled.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that are half-human, half-animal. Typically they have animal heads atop human bodies. The term literally means “Is that human?” They are specifically known for having musical voices.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
- kiṃnara
- 緊那羅
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- མི་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- mi ci
- kinnara
- kīnnara
A class of nonhuman beings that are half human, half animal. Typically, their upper bodies are animal and their lower bodies human. The Tibetan term literally means “human or what?”
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
- kiṃnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
- kiṃnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
- kiṃnara
A semi-divine being who is partly human and musically skilled.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- —
- kinnara
Type of being in Buddhist cosmogony.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
- kiṃnara
A race of celestial musicians who are half human and half horse.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
- kiṃnara
A class of semi-divine beings that are half-human, half-animal. Typically they have animal heads atop human bodies. The term literally means “Is that human?”
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
- kiṃnara
A race of celestial musicians who are half humanoid and half horse.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of nonhuman beings that are half human, half animal. Typically their upper bodies are animal, and their lower bodies human. The term literally means “Is that human?”
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A race of celestial musicians who are half humanoid and half horse.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Hindu literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal (horse or bird). They are also usually depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
Semi-divine beings with a human body and the head of a horse.
- Kinnara
- མི་འམ་ཅི།
- mi ’am ci
- kinnara
A class of celestial beings.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Hindu literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal (horse or bird). They are also usually depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a human?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Hindu literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human and half animal (horse or bird). They are also usually depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of nonhuman beings whose upper bodies are animal while their lower bodies are human. The term literally means “Is that human?”
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
- kiṃnara
A class of semidivine beings depicted as half horse and half human, or half bird and half human.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Hindu literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal (horse or bird). They are also usually depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A race of celestial musicians who are half human and half horse.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Hindu literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal (horse or bird). They are also usually depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.
- Kinnara
- མིའ་ཨམ་ཅི།
- mi’ am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a human?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A semidivine being, half horse, half human, also often described as a celestial musician.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings known for their musical skills, depicted as half horse and half human, or half bird and half human.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a human?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A mythical being with a horse’s head and human body.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of nonhuman beings that are half human, half animal, typically with animal heads atop human bodies. The term literally means “Is that human?”
- Kinnara
- མི་འམ་ཅི།
- mi ’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Hindu literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal (horse or bird). They are also usually depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings known for their musical skills, depicted as half-horse and half-human, or half-bird and half-human.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
Meaning “Is it a man?” These are a class of beings included in the god realms. They are half-bird/half-human in appearance; hence their name.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མི་འམ་ཅི།
- mi ’am ci
- kinnara
- 緊那羅
A class of nonhuman beings who are half human, half animal. Typically, their upper bodies are animal, and their lower bodies human. The term literally means “Is that human?”
- Kinnara
- མི་འམ་ཅི།
- mi ’am ci
- kinnara
A class of supernatural beings that are half-human, half-animal. Typically they have animal heads atop human bodies. The term literally means “Is that human?”
- Kinnara
- མི་འམ་ཅི།
- mi ’am ci
- kinnara
A class of nonhuman beings who are half human, half animal. Typically, their upper bodies are animal, and their lower bodies human. The term literally means “Is that human?”
- Kinnara
- མི་འམ་ཅི།
- mi ’am ci
- kinnara
A class of nonhuman beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name means “Is that a human?” Kinnaras are mythological beings found throughout Indic literature, and are portrayed as creatures that are half human, half animal, typically with animal heads atop human bodies. They are also regarded to be highly skilled celestial musicians.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མི་འམ་ཅི།
- mi ’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
Mythical being with a horse’s head and a human body (or vice versa); literally “man or what?” Along with the gandharvas, kinnaras are celebrated as celestial musicians.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Hindu literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal (horse or bird). They are also usually depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Hindu literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal (horse or bird). They are also usually depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of nonhuman beings that are half-human, half-animal, typically with animal heads atop human bodies. Kinnaras are one group among the aṣṭasenā, eight groups of nonhuman beings said to have been present when the Buddha preached the Mahāyāna sūtras.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of beings that are half-human and half-animal, typically with animal heads atop human bodies. The term literally means “Is that human?” They are specifically known for having musical voices.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of nonhuman beings that are half-human, half-animal. Typically they have animal heads atop human bodies. The term literally means “Is that human?”
Warning: Readers are reminded that according to Vajrayāna Buddhist tradition there are restrictions and commitments concerning tantra. Practitioners who are not sure if they should read this translation are advised to consult the authorities of their lineage. The responsibility for reading this text or sharing it with others who may or may not fulfill the requirements lies in the hands of readers.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings known for their musical skills, depicted as half-horse and half-human, or half-bird and half-human.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a human?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings known for their musical skills, depicted as half-horse and half-human, or half-bird and half-human.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of shapeshifting beings.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of terrestrial beings.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semidivine beings, half human and half horse, or half human and half bird.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
Warning: Readers are reminded that according to Vajrayāna Buddhist tradition there are restrictions and commitments concerning tantra. Practitioners who are not sure if they should read this translation are advised to consult the authorities of their lineage. The responsibility for reading this text or sharing it with others who may or may not fulfill the requirements lies in the hands of readers.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- མི་འམ་ཅི།
- མི་མིན།
- mi’am ci
- mi ’am ci
- mi min
- kinnara
A class of nonhuman beings half horse and half human, sometimes half bird and half human.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of nonhuman beings, half-human and half-horse, or half-human and half-bird.
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semi-divine beings that are half-human, half-animal. Typically they have animal heads atop human bodies. The term literally means “Is that human?”
- Kinnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kinnara
A class of semi-divine beings that are half-human, half-animal. Typically they have animal heads atop human bodies. The term literally means “Is that human?”
- Kiṁnara
- མིའམ་ཅི།
- mi’am ci
- kiṁnara
A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name—which means “Is that a man?”—suggests some confusion as to their divine status.