guru
UK /ˈɡʊɹuː/ · US /ˈɡʊɹ(ˌ)u/ noun, verb
Forms gurus guruing gurued goru gooroo gourou guroo
- noun In Indian traditions: a spiritual teacher who transmits knowledge to a shishya.
- noun (India) Any general teacher (as a term of respect).
- noun (sometimes humorous) An influential advisor or mentor.
- noun (derogatory) A fraudster or conman relying on a projected air of confidence in an obscure field.
- verb To act as a guru; to give wise advice
Etymology
Borrowed from Hindi गुरु (guru) / Punjabi ਗੁਰੂ (gurū), from Sanskrit गुरु (guru, “venerable, respectable”), originally "heavy" and in this sense cognate to English grieve and, more distantly, brute. Doublet of grave. A traditional, though flawed etymology based on the Advayataraka Upanishad (line 16) describes the syllables gu as “darkness” and ru as “destroyer”, thus ascribing the meaning of “one who destroys/dispels darkness” to the word.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [Hind. gur a spiritual parent or teacher, Skr. guru heavy, noble, venerable, teacher. Cf. Grief.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “guru”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details