Definition of "dhyana"

Thus the Kaivalyopanisad accords equal importance to Sraddha (faith-regard), devotion (bhakti) and meditation (dhyana) for the attainment of the highest knowledge.

1844, Calcutta Review, page 123

The beginning must be made with pathawi-kasina, and then the dhyánas, &c., must be taken alternately, as from the first dhyána to the third, then to ákásánancháyatana, and so on to the end.

1860, Robert Spence Hardy, Eastern monachism‎, page 262

Each of the three planes may be experienced through developing the dhyānas in meditation - so here we have yet another way of describing higher states of consciousness.

1997, Meditation: The Buddhist Way of Tranquillity and Insight‎, page 86