zendo means A hall at a Zen buddhist monastery where formal seated meditation (zazen) is practiced. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
zendo is pronounced /ˈzɛndəʊ/.
Why “zendo” is a great word
ZENDO — [Noun] A hall at a Zen Buddhist monastery where formal seated meditation (zazen) is practiced. Borrowed from Japanese 禅堂 (zendō), from 禅 (zen, "Zen") + 堂 (dō, "hall, shrine"). Unlike a "dojo" (which resonates with the percussive breath of martial forms) or a "temple" (which encompasses the full spectrum of ritual and communal worship), a zendo is a vessel crafted for a single, profound action. It is the scent of aged tatami and faint incense, the hollow clack of a wooden clapper calling one back to stillness, and the collective, palpable silence of figures facing a blank wall—a room built not for prayer, but for the architecture of an unadorned mind.
noun
- A hall at a Zen buddhist monastery where formal seated meditation (zazen) is practiced.“In the zendo, she settled herself in her teacher’s old seat and looked out over the room at the rows of meditators who were settling on their cushions, turning to face the smooth, white walls.”