guru
/ˈɡʊɹuː//ˈɡʊɹ(ˌ)u/
guru noun: in Indian traditions: a spiritual teacher who transmits knowledge to a shishya.
Noun
guru (plural gurus or guru)
- In Indian traditions: a spiritual teacher who transmits knowledge to a shishya.
- When the gooroo arrives at the house of a disciple, the whole family prostrate themselves at his feet, and the spiritual guide puts his right foot on the heads of the prostrate family.1817, William Ward, History, Literature and Religion of the Hindoos, volume II
- The Baiga magicians derive from the old guru who succeeded Nanga Baiga. There is very great confusion about the original guru, and how he was actually related to Nanga Baiga, but there is general agreement that there were originally four great Baiga guru—Daugun, Nindhan, Danantar and Madhakawar...1939, Verrier Elwin, “The Magician and His Control of the Natural World”, in The Baiga, London: John Murray, […], section II (The Magician’s Heritage), page 342
- Any general teacher (as a term of respect).
- An influential advisor or mentor.
- Many oenophiles rely on the ratings and recommendations of wine guru Robert Parker when selecting the perfect bottle.2004 October 18, “Vintage technology”, in Time
- A fraudster or conman relying on a projected air of confidence in an obscure field.
- OPCA gurus are modern legal alchemists. They promise gold, but their methods are principally intended to impress the gullible, or those who wish to use this drivel to abuse the court system. Any lack of legal success by the OPCA litigant is, of course, portrayed as a consequence of the customer’s...2012, John D. Rooke (Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta), “Meads v. Meads, 2012 ABQB 571”, in CanLII
Verb
guru (third-person singular simple present gurus, present participle guruing, simple past and past participle gurued)
- To act as a guru; to give wise advice
guru meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
guru in Hindi
- spiritual teacher
- गुरु guru
- advisor or mentor
- गुरु guru
guru in Tamil
- spiritual teacher
- குரு kuru
guru in Marathi
- spiritual teacher
- गुरू gurū
guru in Urdu
- spiritual teacher
- گرو guru
More languagesFewer languages
- guru in Bengali
- গুরু guru, মুর্শিদ murśid
- guru in Telugu
- గురువు guruvu, విశారదుడు viśāraduḍu, కోవిదుడు kōviduḍu
- guru in Malayalam
- ഗുരു guru
- guru in Kannada
- ಗುರು guru
- guru in Punjabi
- ਗੁਰੂ gurū
- guru in Gujarati
- ગુરુ guru
- guru in Odia
- ଗୁରୁ guru
- guru in Sanskrit
- गुरू gurū
- guru in Assamese
- গুৰু guru
- guru in Nepali
- गुरु guru
- guru in Tagalog
- guro
- guru in Arabic
- مُعَلِّم رُوحِيّ muʕallim rūḥiyy, جُورُو gūrū, غُورُو ḡūrū
- guru in Malay
- guru
- guru in Indonesian
- guru
- guru in Persian
- گورو guru
- guru in Thai
- คุรุ kú-rú, ครู kruu
- guru in Myanmar
- ဂုရု gu.ru.
Examples of guru in a sentence
- The Baiga magicians derive from the old guru who succeeded Nanga Baiga.1939, Verrier Elwin, “The Magician and His Control of the Natural World”, in The Baiga, London: John Murray, […], section II (The...
- These guru, third, were responsible for insuring that the populace would not be tempted to support heterodox world renouncers and their counter-patrimonial ideas.1989, Norman Jacobs, “The Classical Indian Society”, in Patrimonial Interpretation of Indian Society: Contemporary Structure and Historical...
- Many of the deities and beliefs recorded by the guru are in fact unknown to the common people, and some represent the esoteric knowledge of only a few guru.1994, Simon Rae, “Kiniteken Si Pemena: The Original Belief”, in Breath Becomes the Wind: Old and New in Karo Religion, Dunedin: University...
- Traditionally, a guru is a spiritual teacher who guides a student on the road to Enlightenment, or finding God.2010 May 10, “Madonna is my guru”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the...
Forms of guru
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | gurus |
| plural | guru |
| alternative form | goru |
| alternative form | gooroo |
| alternative form (obsolete) | gourou |
| alternative form (archaic) | guroo |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | gurus |
| present participle | guruing |
| past participle | gurued |
| past | gurued |
Origin of guru
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.
Words formed from guru
Phrases with guru
Questions about guru
- What does guru mean?
- Guru means in Indian traditions: a spiritual teacher who transmits knowledge to a shishya.
- What is guru in Hindi?
- Guru in Hindi is गुरु (guru). See Guru meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use guru in a sentence?
- The Baiga magicians derive from the old guru who succeeded Nanga Baiga.
- What part of speech is guru?
- Guru can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce guru?
- Guru is pronounced /ˈɡʊɹuː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of guru?
- The plural of guru is gurus.
Words near guru in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: guru (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-guru.wav, en-us-guru.ogg.
Cite this entry: “guru.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/guru. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.