dera means temple?

I see references to "Kiyomizu Temple", "Kiyomizudera Temple", and "Kiyomizudera". I assume they are all referring to one temple. Is that correct?

Your right. They are all the same temple. Temples often finish with a dera, ji, do or in for their names.

"Kiyomizu-dera" is formed by joining "Kiyomizu" and "tera." And yes, "tera" means temple, and can be used on its own. Ž› is the kanji, and it is pronounced "tera" (when on its own), "dera" (in compound nouns, which I will explain below), or "ji."

When a name of place/proper noun comes before the "tera" and the two words are joined together, the "-tera" changes to "-dera."

The reason why those different expressions are used to refer to the same place is because Japanese people would naturally say "Kiyomizudera," and KNOW that this is a temple name. But since it is not apparent to non-Japanese speakers, someone decided to add "Temple" after it and say "Kiyomizudera Temple." And maybe someone else said, hey, the "temple" = "-dera" is redundant, so it should be Kiyomizu Temple :) All are used.

Thanks AK and mfedley.