What is the etymology of the term 仏様 ? I am interested because of all the meanings this word can possess.
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It comes from two words: 仏{ほとけ} (hotoke, Buddha) and 様{さま} (an honorific suffix). さま is of course applied to many names towards which a large degree of deference is to be shown (gods, royalty, etc.). But perhaps you're wondering about the origin of 仏{ほとけ}? That's a bit more complicated. According to the 大辞泉 dictionary, the word ほとけ originally came from a phonetic shift of the word ぶつ (a word for "Buddha" in Japanese) into the word ほと. After this shift, the ending ～け was then applied, which means (loosely translated) "looks like" or "seems like," to mean "an image of Buddha." You can also see this ～け in words like ありげ and よさげ. From this original meaning of "an image of Buddha," the meaning then shifted a bit through history to mean "Buddha," as well as "a spirit of the deceased." I wouldn't say that 仏{ほとけ} really has many other meanings besides those above, although it's extremely versatile in idiomatic expressions, which can give it many uses. |
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