ˈprayer-wheel
[f. prayer1 + wheel n.]
1. A mechanical aid to or substitute for prayer, used especially by the Buddhists of Tibet, consisting of a cylindrical box inscribed with or containing prayers, revolving on a spindle: see quot. 1868.
| 1814 tr. Klaproth's Trav. 102 The inscriptions in such prayer-wheels commonly consist of masses for souls, psalms, and the six great general litanies. 1868 Montgomerie in Proc. R. Geog. Soc. 15 July 154 The Tibetans..made use of the rosary and prayer-wheel. Ibid. 155 Each revolution represents one repetition of the prayer, which is written on a scroll inside the cylinder. 1893 Earl Dunmore Pamirs I. 105 There was a Buddhist prayer-wheel being turned by water-power, and reeling off prayers at so many per hour. |
2. A wheel set with bells and fastened to the ceiling of a chapel, formerly used for divination in connexion with masses or other devotional services.
| 1897 Daily News 26 July 5/1 Even now in Brittany a kind of prayer-wheels are kept in churches and set spinning by the devout. |