Wat
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /wat/
Origin 1
From Thai วัด.
Full definition of wat
Noun
wat
(plural wats)- A Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia.There are two wats near this village.Angkor Wat
- 1857, Sir John Bowring, The kingdom and people of Siam, Having at last got past the crowd of boats, we advanced rapidly for two hours more, when we stopped at a wat, in order to give the men a rest.
- 1982, Carlo Caldarola, Religions and societies, Asia and the Middle East, Aside from its religious function in the community, the wat also performs a large variety of social functions.
- 1996, James Bissett Pratt, The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage, page 194:It would be a mistake, however, to emphasize the Hindu element in Cambodian Buddhism and Cambodian temples. At its greatest it is always a subordinate element and in most of the wats or temples it hardly appears at all, ...
- 1999, Steve Van Beek, The arts of Thailand, It is often possible to discern the motivation or importance of a wat by examining its name
- 2003, Joshua Eliot, Thailand handbook, The ubosoth is in a small enclosure just before the main entrance to the wat, on the right, which has fine gilded doors. The wat has a small museum.
Origin 2
Variation of what.
Determiner
- (informal, Internet, text messaging) Alternative spelling of what