Learning & Wisdom
讀書三昧
독서삼매
dú shū sān mèi
Dok-seo-sam-mae
讀
읽을 독
書
글 서
三
석 삼
昧
어두울 매
Character by character
Meaning
So absorbed in a book that everything else falls away.
Origin
Sammae transliterates the Sanskrit samadhi, the Buddhist term for one-pointed absorption.
How it is used
Used to describe someone deep in a book.
Hanja讀書三昧
Simplified读书三昧
Korean reading독서삼매
Pinyindú shū sān mèi
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Dok-seo-sam-mae mean?
讀書三昧 · So absorbed in a book that everything else falls away.
Q. Where does Dok-seo-sam-mae come from?
Sammae transliterates the Sanskrit samadhi, the Buddhist term for one-pointed absorption.
Q. How is Dok-seo-sam-mae used?
Used to describe someone deep in a book.
Idioms in the same group
刮目相對 Gwal-mok-sang-daeRub your eyes and look again — someone’s ability has grown astonishingly.敎學相長 Gyo-hak-sang-jangTeaching and learning grow each other.多多益善 Da-da-ik-seonThe more, the better.聞一知十 Mun-il-ji-sipHear one thing and know ten — exceptional quickness of mind.格物致知 Gyeong-mul-chi-jiInvestigate things to reach knowledge.學而時習 Hak-i-si-seupLearn, and practise it in due time.
The idioms used in Korea mix phrases from the Chinese classics with ones coined in Korea. Where an expression is not used in China, the entry says so.