karma

Borrowed from Sanskrit कर्म (kárma), nom.sg. of कर्मन् (kárman, “act, action, performance”); first attested in English in 1785 in a translation of the Bhagavad Gita by Charles Wilkins.

• Hyphenation: kar‧ma

• (North India) IPA^(key): /kərm(ə)/, [kɐɾm(ɐ)]
  • (rhotic) Rhymes: -ɜː(r)m

• (South India) IPA^(key): /kərma/, [kɐɾmä(ː)]
  • (rhotic) Rhymes: -ɜː(r)mə

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑː(ɹ).mə/
  • Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)mə
  • Homophones: cama, calmer (non-rhotic)

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

karma (countable and uncountable, plural karmas)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) The sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth.
   • 2023, Santanu Bhattacharya, One Small Voice, Fig Tree, pages 59-60:

     ‘We are all part of a circle of karma. We will be rewarded for the good deeds of our forefathers, and pay the price for their sins.’

2. A force or law of nature which causes one to reap what one sows; destiny; fate.
3. (uncommon) A distinctive feeling, aura, or atmosphere.
   • 2001, Inside the Hits, page 307:

     That means everything from lighting to the vibes, the karma of the room.

   • 2006, Chase Sargent, From Buddy to Boss, page 219:

     How many times when you have been in a bar have you felt that a confrontation was building up, even without extensive verbal exchanges? Sometimes you can feel the karma or energy of a place change, and you should not ignore that

   • 2010, R.L. Roach, Irish Lie, page 135:

     On the way to Lancaster, which was about an hour and a half from Philly, John felt the karma.

4. (Internet) A score assigned to a user or post on some discussion forums, indicating popularity or perceived value.

• “karma”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• karma in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “karma”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

• Makar, Marak, makar, krama, Karam, Marka

• IPA^(key): /karˈma/ [kʌɾˈmʌ]
• Hyphenation: kar‧ma

karmá f (plural karmoomí f)

1. autumn rainy season

Declension of karmá
absolutive	karmá
predicative	karmá
subjective	karmá
genitive	karmá
Postpositioned forms l-case karmál k-case karmák t-case karmát h-case karmáh

• E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “karma”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

Borrowed from Sanskrit कर्मन् (kárman, “act, action, performance”).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈkar.mə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈkaɾ.ma]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

karma m (plural karmes)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma

• kàrmic

• “karma”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

• IPA^(key): [ˈkarma]

From a commercial name that comes from abbreviated name of its inventor Karel Macháček

karma f

1. (technology) tankless water heater, instantaneous water heater

Borrowed from Sanskrit कर्मन् (kárman, “act, action, performance”).

karma f

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma

• “karma”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “karma”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “karma”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

From Sanskrit कर्मन् (kárman, “act, action, performance”), possibly via English karma.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑr.mɑ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: kar‧ma
• Rhymes: -ɑrmɑ

karma n (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma

• karmisch

From karmo +‎ -a.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkarma/
• Rhymes: -arma
• Syllabification: kar‧ma

karma (accusative singular karman, plural karmaj, accusative plural karmajn)

1. karmic

Borrowed from Sanskrit कर्मन् (kárman, “act, action, performance”). Appears as headword on p. 341 of the Pieni Tietosanakirja ("Little Encyclopedia") [1] from 1925-28, published by Otava, Helsinki.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɑrmɑ/, [ˈkɑ̝rmɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑrmɑ
• Syllabification^(key): kar‧ma
• Hyphenation^(key): kar‧ma

karma

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma

• “karma”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

IPA^(key): /kaʁ.ma/

karma m (plural karmas)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma
2. (slang) an unpleasant or negative environment.

• “karma”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɒrmɒ]
• Hyphenation: kar‧ma
• Rhymes: -mɒ

karom (“claw”) +‎ -a (possessive suffix)

karma

1. third-person singular single-possession possessive of karom

Borrowed from Sanskrit कर्मन् (kárman, “act, action, performance”).^[1]

karma

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma

• karmikus

• kamra, marka

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʰarma/
• Rhymes: -arma

Borrowed from Sanskrit कर्मन् (kárman, “act, action, performance”).

karma n (genitive singular karma, no plural)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma

karma

1. indefinite accusative plural of karmur
2. indefinite genitive plural of karmur

From Sanskrit कर्म (karma), कर्मन् (karman), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *kárma, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kárma, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷer- (“to do, make”).

• IPA^(key): /karma/
• Hyphenation: kar‧ma

karma

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma,
   1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) the sum total of a person's actions, which determine the person's next incarnation in samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth
   2. a force or law of nature which causes one to reap what one sows; destiny; fate

• “karma”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Borrowed from Sanskrit कर्मन् (karman, “act, action, performance”), from the root कृ (kṛ, “to do, make”), from the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷer- (“to do, make, build”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈkar.ma/
• Rhymes: -arma
• Hyphenation: kàr‧ma

karma m (invariable)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma
2. (colloquial) karma (divine retribution in a non-religious context)

• karmico

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -arma
• Syllabification: kar‧ma
• Homophone: Karma

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kъrmà.

karma f

1. fodder (food for pets)

   Synonym: karm

   Coordinate term: pasza

2. (Lasovia) hay and straw mix (hay mixed with straw given to cattle)

In Standard Polish, the term karma is used for pets, whereas pasza is used for other domesticated animals, such as livestock or poultry.

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit कर्मन् (karman). Doublet of karman.

karma f

1. (Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism) karma (total effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of their existence)

   Synonym: karman

• “karma”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “karma”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)
• karma in PWN's encyclopedia
• Szymon Matusiak (1880), “karma”, in “Gwara lasowska w okolicy Tarnobrzega, studyjum dyjalektologiczne”, in Rozprawy i Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Wydziału Filologicznego Akademii Umiejętności (I) (in Polish), volume 8, Krakow: Akademia Umiejętności, page 174

• Hyphenation: kar‧ma

karma m (plural karmas)

1. alternative spelling of carma

• “karma”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Borrowed from English karma or French karma.

karma f (uncountable)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Please edit the entry and supply |def= and |pl= parameters to the {{ro-noun-f}} template.

• IPA^(key): /kârma/
• Hyphenation: kar‧ma

kȁrma m inan (Cyrillic spelling ка̏рма)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma

Borrowed from Sanskrit कर्मन् (kárman, “act, action, performance”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾma/ [ˈkaɾ.ma]
• Rhymes: -aɾma
• Syllabification: kar‧ma

karma m (plural karmas)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma

• “karma”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Borrowed from Sanskrit कर्म (kárma), nominative singular of कर्मन् (kárman, “act, action, performance”).

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾma/ [ˈkaɾ.mɐ]
• Rhymes: -aɾma
• Syllabification: kar‧ma

karma (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜇ᜔ᜋ)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma (the total effect of a person’s actions and conduct during the successive phases of his existence)
2. karma (force or law of nature which causes one to reap what one sows)

• “karma”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2025
• “karma”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

From Turkish kar- (“to mix”) + -ma.

• IPA^(key): /kaɾˈma/

karma (definite accusative karmayı, plural karmalar)

1. verbal noun of karmak; mixing

karma

1. mixed

   karma eğitim ― mixed education (coeducation)

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾ.ma/

karma

1. second-person singular negative imperative of karmak

Probably from English karma, ultimately from Sanskrit कर्मन् (karman).

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaɾ.ma/

karma (definite accusative karmayı, plural karmalar)

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism) karma