Definition of "bodhisattva" [bodhisattva]

• Buddhism An enlightened being who, out of compassion, forgoes nirvana in order to save others. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The term bodhisattva is Sanskrit whose essence is basically "enlightenment" (bodhi) and"
• "My personal bodhisattva is unhappy with the size of her breasts"
• "The example used in the texts is somebody called a bodhisattva a monkey and was reborn as a monkey five hundred times."