Where does “koan” come from?
Koan comes from Japanese 公案, borrowed from Chinese 公案, originally meaning a public legal case or judicial precedent.
koan (English): A story about a Zen master and his student,...
Definitions
- A story about a Zen master and his student,...
Ancestry of “koan”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Japanese | 公案 | koan |
| 2 | Chinese | 公案 | koan; court table; complicated legal case |
Words derived from “koan”