Fwd: "mu, n.3 and int." - Word of the Day from the OED

[Dave Monroe]

http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=0109&msg=60225

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <oedwotd at oup.com>
Date: Sunday, February 16, 2014
Subject: "mu, n.3 and int." - Word of the Day from the OED
To: OEDWOTD-AMER-L at webber.uk.hub.oup.com


OED Online Word of the Day

The December 2013 quarterly update is now available. New words and meanings
have been added across the dictionary, including emoji, nappy valley, and
oojamaflip. Find out more...

________________________________

Your word for today is: mu, n.3 and int.

mu, n.3 and int.
[‘ A state of voidness, nothingness, or detachment which is thought to
transcend the concepts of negative and positive.’]
Pronunciation: Brit. /muː/,  U.S. /mu/
Forms: also with capital initial.
Etymology: <  Japanese mu nothing (especially in conventional sayings), no,
not, (as prefix) un-, without, -less (1603 in Vocabulario da Lingoa de
Iapam) <  Middle Chinese (compare Chinese (Cantonese)mòuh, Chinese
(Mandarin) wú no, not, nothing). Compare mushin n., no-decision n. (b) at
no adj. Special uses 4.
 Zen Buddhism.
 A. n.3
  A state of voidness, nothingness, or detachment which is thought to
transcend the concepts of negative and positive.
1933  D. T. Suzuki Ess. Zen Buddhism 2nd Ser. i. 162 Inquire into the
meaning of the ‘Mu’ saying to yourself that ‘This body of mine is the “Mu”
itself, and what does it all mean?’
1960  B. Leach Potter in Japan x. 222 Appreciation of the meaning of ‘Mu’,
or unattachment, deeply imbedded in Taoism, Buddhism and ever present in
Zen-inspired arts and crafts.
1990  J. W. Heisig  & P. F. Knitter tr. H. Dumoulin Zen Buddhism II. ix.
371 The master said: ‘How do you understand Chao-chou's mu?’ I replied:
‘What sort of place does mu have that one can attach arms and legs to it?’
1995  B. A. Haines Karate's Hist. & Trad. (rev. ed.) 114 In judo the mu
principle is applied when two opponents face each other before a match, the
idea being to clear the mind of extraneous thoughts.
 B. int.
  Used as an alternative to answering either ‘yes’ or ‘no’, in order to
reject the validity of the question.
1934  N. Senzaki  & P. Reps Gateless Gate 9 A monk asked Joshu, a Chinese
Zen Master: ‘Has a dog Buddha-nature, or not?’ Joshu answered ‘Mu.’
1979  D. R. Hofstadter Gödel, Escher, Bach x. 312 You see, ‘mu’ is an
ancient Zen answer which, when given to a question, unasks the question.

________________________________

To cancel this service, send a plain-text message to
listserv at webber.uk.hub.oup.com consisting of the text signoff
oedwotd-amer-l and leave the subject line blank . Alternatively, use this
unsubscribe mail link.

Written requests to unsubscribe may be sent to:

Online Products
Oxford University Press
Great Clarendon Street
Oxford OX2 6DP
UK

Visit the OED's home page at www.oed.com

Copyright © Oxford University Press 2014

Oxford University Press (UK) Disclaimer

This message is confidential. You should not copy it or disclose its
contents to anyone. You may use and apply the information for the intended
purpose only. OUP does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of
this message. Any views or opinions presented are those of the author only
and not of OUP. If this email has come to you in error, please delete it,
along with any attachments. Please note that OUP may intercept incoming and
outgoing email communications.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20140216/ddbebc30/attachment.html>