Sikkha
/ˈsɪk.kʰaː/noun
A Pali Buddhist term meaning training, practice, or disciplined spiritual development.
Did you know?In Theravāda Buddhism, sikkhā traditionally refers to the threefold training in higher morality, higher mind, and higher wisdom—not a magical spell, but a systematic reshaping of consciousness.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-Iranian
PII
*śikṣā
“Training, practice, or instruction; a reconstructed ancestral form”
Ancient Sanskrit
Sanskrit
śikṣā
“Learning, instruction, practice, or discipline”
Early Buddhism
Pali
sikkhā
“Training or spiritual discipline, especially the Buddhist path of practice”
5th–1st Century BCE
Pali
sikkhā
“A formal Buddhist concept encompassing ethical conduct, mental cultivation, and wisdom”
Modern English
English
sikkha
“A scholarly or Buddhist loanword for disciplined training or spiritual practice”