彌勒佛

Chinese

		Maitreya	Buddha; Buddhism
trad. (彌勒佛)		彌勒	佛
simp. (弥勒佛)		弥勒	佛

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): Mílèfó

(Zhuyin): ㄇㄧˊ ㄌㄜˋ ㄈㄛˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): nei⁴ lak⁶ fat⁶ / mei⁴ lak⁶ fat⁶
Eastern Min (BUC): Mì-lĕk^→léh-*hŭk
Southern Min
(Hokkien, POJ): Bî-le̍k-hu̍t / Mî-le̍k-hu̍t

(Teochew, Peng'im): mi⁵ lêg⁸ hug⁸ / mi⁵ dêg⁸ hug⁸

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Mílèfó
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄧˊ ㄌㄜˋ ㄈㄛˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: Mílèfó
  - Wade–Giles: Mi²-lê⁴-fo²
  - Yale: Mí-lè-fwó
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Milehfor
  - Palladius: Милэфо (Milɛfo)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi³⁵ lɤ⁵¹ fu̯ɔ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: nei⁴ lak⁶ fat⁶ / mei⁴ lak⁶ fat⁶
  - Yale: nèih lahk faht / mèih lahk faht
  - Cantonese Pinyin: nei⁴ lak⁹ fat⁹ / mei⁴ lak⁹ fat⁹
  - Guangdong Romanization: néi⁴ leg⁶ fed⁶ / méi⁴ leg⁶ fed⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nei̯²¹ lɐk̚² fɐt̚²/, /mei̯²¹ lɐk̚² fɐt̚²/
Eastern Min
- (Fuzhou)
  - Bàng-uâ-cê: Mì-lĕk^→léh-*hŭk
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi⁵³⁻²¹ l̃ɛiʔ⁵⁻⁵⁵ huʔ⁵/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Bî-le̍k-hu̍t
  - Tâi-lô: Bî-li̍k-hu̍t
  - Phofsit Daibuun: bileghut
  - IPA (Taipei): /bi²⁴⁻¹¹ liɪk̚⁴⁻³² hut̚⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /bi²³⁻³³ liɪk̚⁴⁻³² hut̚⁴/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Mî-le̍k-hu̍t
  - Tâi-lô: Mî-li̍k-hu̍t
  - Phofsit Daibuun: mileghut
  - IPA (Taipei): /mĩ²⁴⁻¹¹ liɪk̚⁴⁻³² hut̚⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /mĩ²³⁻³³ liɪk̚⁴⁻³² hut̚⁴/
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: mi⁵ lêg⁸ hug⁸ / mi⁵ dêg⁸ hug⁸
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: mî le̍k hu̍k / mî te̍k hu̍k
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mi⁵⁵⁻¹¹ lek̚⁴⁻² huk̚⁴/, /mi⁵⁵⁻¹¹ tek̚⁴⁻² huk̚⁴/

Note: mi5 dêg8 hug8 - Jieyang.

Proper noun

彌勒佛

(Buddhism) Maitreya

Usage notes

While commonly used informally by laity, this term is a misnomer according to orthodox Buddhism because Maitreya is still a Bodhisattva and not yet a Buddha. Ordained monks and nuns prefer the term 彌勒菩薩 / 弥勒菩萨 (Mílè Púsà).

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 彌勒 (“Maitreya; Laughing Buddha”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		彌勒, 彌勒佛, 彌勒菩薩
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	彌勒佛
Northeastern Mandarin	Singapore	彌勒佛, 彌勒菩薩
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	彌羅佛
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	彌陀, 笑佛, 彌勒佛
Cantonese	Hong Kong	彌勒佛
Gan	Nanchang	彌勒佛
Hakka	Meixian	摁肚伯公
Hakka	Yudu	大肚羅漢
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	彌勒佛, 彌提
Southern Min	Xiamen	肥勒, 肥勒爺
	Quanzhou	肥勒
	Zhangzhou	肥勒, 肥勒佛, 阿肥勒佛仔
	Jieyang	彌勒佛
Puxian Min	Putian	未來佛
Puxian Min	Xianyou	未來佛
Wu	Shanghai (Songjiang)	彌陀菩薩
Xiang	Changsha	和合菩薩