Nomenclature, Orthography and Etymology
Strictly speaking, the term Kagyu (Tibetan: བཀའ་བརྒྱུད, Wylie: bka' brgyud) (“Oral Lineage” or “Precept Transmission”) applies to any line of transmission of an esoteric teaching from teacher to disciple. We sometimes see references to the "Atisha Kagyu" (“the precept transmission from Atiśa”) for the early Kadampa, or to "Jonang Kagyu" for the Jonangpa and "Ganden Kagyu" for the Gelugpa sects.
Today, the term Kagyu almost always refers to the Marpa Kagyu or Dagpo Kagyu and its off-shoots, which developed from the teachings transmitted by the translator Marpa Chökyi Lodrö and his successors. It also applies to the separate lesser-known Shangpa Kagyu tradition, which developed from the teachings independently transmitted by Khyungpo Naljor.
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“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
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