dharmsala means A charitable or religious house, especially a resthouse for travellers. It carries an Arena rating of 1443, earned across 13 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, dharmsala ranks #2,259 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #4,045 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #4,682 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #4,960 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words.
Why “dharmsala” is a great word
DHARMSALA — [Noun] A charitable resthouse for travelers, offered as a religious duty. From Hindi धर्मशाला (dharmaśālā), from Sanskrit dharma ("duty, law, religion") and śālā ("house, hall"). Unlike a "caravanserai"—a bustling, commercial nexus for trade—or a "monastery"—a secluded cloister for the devout—a dharmsala is a quiet, open-handed gift of refuge. It is the cool stone floor in the evening heat, the shared bowl of simple dal, and the single woven mat in a hall of sleeping strangers—a brief sanctuary offered not for profit, but as a small, steadfast assertion of order against the world’s weariness.
Etymology
From Hindi धर्मशाला (dharmaśālā), from Sanskrit.
noun
- A charitable or religious house, especially a resthouse for travellers.e.g.“The corridor was paved and wayfarers used it as a dharamshala.” — 2015, Tridip Suhrud, translating Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi, Sarasvatichandra I, Orient BlackSwan 2015, p. 2
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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