mudra

See also: mudrā and múdra

English

WOTD – 23 October 2007

Sculpture detail showing use of mudra (1)

Alternative forms

• mudrā

Etymology

From Sanskrit मुद्रा (mudrā, “seal”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /muːˈdɹɑː/, /mʊˈdɹɑː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  ,

  Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː

Noun

mudra (plural mudras)

1. (dance, art) Any of several formal symbolic hand postures used in classical dance of India and in Hindu and Buddhist iconography.
   • 1996 [1994], Andrew Bromfield, Crystal World, translation of original by Victor Pelevin:

     The king of creation would not have curved his palm into the likeness of a Hindu mudra in an attempt to protect the tiny launching pad on his thumbnail from the dank wind.

   • 2023, Santanu Bhattacharya, One Small Voice, Fig Tree, page 109:

     For the next few minutes, the audience had sat mesmerized as the sisters performed, fingertips joining and parting in mudras, eyebrows quivering.

2. (Hinduism) Any of the formal body positions and postures used in yoga and meditation.
   • 1915 [14th century], Pancham Sinh., Hatha Yoga Pradipika, translation of original by Swami Swatmarama:

     The Kechari Mudra is accomplished by thrusting the tongue into the gullet, by turning it over itself, and keeping the eyesight in the middle.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:mudra.

Translations

symbolic hand postures of India

• Burmese: မုဒြာ (mu.dra)
• Czech: mudra f
• Dutch: mudra
• French: mudrâ (fr)
• German: Mudra
• Hindi: मुद्रा (hi) f (mudrā)
• Indonesian: mudra (id)
• Japanese: 印相 (inzō)
• Portuguese: mudra (pt) f
• Russian: мудра́ (ru) (mudrá)
• Sanskrit: मुद्रा (sa) f (mudrā)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мудра f

  Roman: mudra (sh) f

• Spanish: mudrá m, mudra (es) m
• Urdu: مدرا f (mudrā)

See also

• asana
• wai

Anagrams

• Murad, mudar

Czech

Noun

mudra f

1. mudra

Declension

Declension of mudra (hard feminine reducible)

	singular	plural
nominative	mudra	mudry
genitive	mudry	muder
dative	mudře	mudrám
accusative	mudru	mudry
vocative	mudro	mudry
locative	mudře	mudrách
instrumental	mudrou	mudrami

Indonesian

Etymology

From Sanskrit मुद्रा (mudrā, “seal”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mud.ra/
• Hyphenation: mud‧ra

Noun

mudra

1. (Hinduism) Any of the formal body positions and postures used in yoga and meditation.

Further reading

• “mudra” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmudra/

Adjective

mudra

1. feminine nominative singular of mudry

Norwegian

Etymology

From Sanskrit मुद्रा (mudrā, “seal”).

Noun

mudra n (definite singular mudraet, indefinite plural mudraer, definite plural mudraene)

1. mudra

Portuguese

Noun

mudra m or f (plural mudras)

1. (dance, art) mudra (symbolic hand postures used in India)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Noun

mudra f (Cyrillic spelling мудра)

1. mudra

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

mudra

1. inflection of mudar:
   1. feminine nominative/vocative singular
   2. indefinite masculine/neuter genitive singular
   3. indefinite animate masculine accusative singular
   4. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Spanish

Noun

mudra m (plural mudras)

1. (Hinduism) mudra

Further reading

• “mudra”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014