Meanings
singular prayer bead
- pluralplural normallyA string of beads used by members of various religions to count prayers, chants, or devotions.
Suits didn't wear suits any more—they wore Tibetan prayer beads coiled around their wrists. But they slithered in a suitlike way.
2020, Emily Segal, Mercury Retrograde, New York: Deluge Books, →ISBN
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna string of beads used in counting prayers (especially by Catholics)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
An interesting example of a compound that is diachronically pleonastic, although not synchronically so; the head by itself originally meant the relevant meaning (see bead), but as the head's meaning broadened by extension, the compound then became necessary to specify the relevant meaning by narrowing down.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مِسْبَحَة, سُبْحَة
- مِسْبَحَة (misbaḥa)string of beads — see also rosary
- سُبْحَة (subḥa)string of beads — see also rosary
Bengali তসবীহ
- তসবীহ (tosbiho)string of beads — see also rosary
Bulgarian броени́ца
- броени́ца (broeníca)string of beads — see also rosary
Catalan rosari
- rosaristring of beads — see also rosary
Chinese Mandarin 念珠, 佛珠
- 念珠 (niànzhū)string of beads — see also rosary
- 佛珠 (fózhū)string of beads — see also rosary
Czech růženec
- růženecstring of beads — see also rosary
Dutch rozenkrans, gebedssnoer
- rozenkransstring of beads — see also rosary
- gebedssnoerstring of beads — see also rosary
Estonian palvehelmed
- palvehelmedstring of beads — see also rosary
Finnish rukousnauha
- rukousnauhastring of beads — see also rosary
French chapelet
- chapeletstring of beads — see also rosary
German Gebetskette, Gebetsschnur
- Gebetskettestring of beads — see also rosary
- Gebetsschnurstring of beads — see also rosary
Greek ροζάριο, ροδάριο
- ροζάριο (rozário)string of beads — see also rosary
- ροδάριο (rodário)string of beads — see also rosary
Hindi माला, तसबीह
- माला (mālā)string of beads — see also rosary
- तसबीह (tasbīh)string of beads — see also rosary
- जपनी (japnī)string of beads — see also rosary
Irish paidrín
- paidrínstring of beads — see also rosary
Italian rosario
- rosariostring of beads — see also rosary
Japanese 念珠, 数珠
- 念珠 (nenju)string of beads — see also rosary
- 数珠 (juzu)string of beads — see also rosary
Korean 묵주, 염주
- 묵주 (mukju)string of beads — see also rosary
- 염주 (yeomju)string of beads — see also rosary
Persian تسبیح, رزاری
- تسبیح (tasbih)string of beads — see also rosary
- رزاری (rozâri)string of beads — see also rosary
- بازیج (bāzij)string of beads — see also rosary
Polish różaniec, sznur modlitewny
- różaniecstring of beads — see also rosary
- sznur modlitewnystring of beads — see also rosary
Portuguese terço, rosário
- terçostring of beads — see also rosary
- rosáriostring of beads — see also rosary
Romanian mătănii, rozariu
- mătăniistring of beads — see also rosary
- rozariustring of beads — see also rosary
Russian чётки
- чётки (čótki)string of beads — see also rosary
Slovak ruženec
- ruženecstring of beads — see also rosary
Spanish rosario
- rosariostring of beads — see also rosary
Tagalog rosaryo
- rosaryostring of beads — see also rosary
Thai ปัด, ประคำ
- ปัด (bpàt)string of beads — see also rosary
- ประคำ (bprà-kam)string of beads — see also rosary
Turkish tespih
- tespihstring of beads — see also rosary
Ukrainian чо́тки
- чо́тки (čótky)string of beads — see also rosary
Urdu تسبیح
- تسبیح (tasbīh)string of beads — see also rosary
Vietnamese tràng hạt
- tràng hạtstring of beads — see also rosary
Cite this entry
prayer beads. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prayer%20beads
“prayer beads.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prayer%20beads. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prayer beads,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prayer%20beads.
Source: prayer beads on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.