gassho

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noun

A ritual gesture of Eastern origin, with hands pressed together in front of the chest. It can be used for prayer or as a sign of greeting, gratitude, reverence, or apology. When performed with a bow, it is called gassho rei.

Similar
namaste
OriginJapanese 合掌 →
Scrabble 10
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Meanings

noungassho (plural gasshos)

plural gasshos

  1. A ritual gesture of Eastern origin, with hands pressed together in front of the chest. It can be used for prayer or as a sign of greeting, gratitude, reverence, or apology. When performed with a bow, it is called gassho rei.

    Synonyms: namaste

verbgassho (third-person singular simple present gasshos, present participle gasshoing, simple past and past participle gasshoed)

present singular third person gasshos · participle present gasshoing · participle past gasshoed · past gasshoed

  1. intransitiveTo make this gesture.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA ritual gesture of Eastern origin, with hands pressed together in front of the chest. It can be used for prayer or as a sign of greeting, gratitude, reverence, or apology. When performed with a bow, it is called gassho rei.

Similar
namaste

Origin

  1. Japanese合掌
  2. Englishgassho

From Japanese 合掌 (gasshō), from Middle Chinese 合掌 (ɣop-tʃáng, “Buddhist-style pressed-palm gesture of piety”) (compare Mandarin 合掌 (hézhǎng), Cantonese 合掌 (hap⁶ jeung²)), from 合 (“unite”) and 掌 (zhǎng, “palm”).

More words from Japanese

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

gassho. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gassho

MLA

“gassho.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gassho. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gassho,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gassho.

Source: gassho on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.