guru

See also Guru, and gurú

English

WOTD - 21 June 2011    

Alternative forms

• goru [17th-19th c.]
• gooroo [19th c.]

Etymology

From Hindi गुरू (guru) / Urdu گرو (guru), from Sanskrit गुरु (gurú, “venerable, respectable”), originally "heavy" and in this sense cognate to English grieve. (A traditional etymology based on the Advaya Taraka Upanishad (line 16) describes the syllables gu as 'darkness' and ru as 'destroyer', thus meaning "one who destroys/dispels darkness")

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈɡʊ.ɹuː/, /ˈɡuː.ɹuː/, SAMPA: /"gu:.ru:/

Noun

guru (plural gurus)

1. A Hindu or Sikh spiritual teacher. [from 17th c.]
   • 1817, William Ward, History, Literature and Religion of the Hindoos, vol II:

     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.

   • 2010, Wendy Shanker, The Guardian, 10 May 2010:

     Traditionally, a guru is a spiritual teacher who guides a student on the road to Enlightenment, or finding God.

2. (sometimes humorous) An influential advisor or mentor. [from 20th c.]
   • 2004, ‘Vintage technology’, Time, 18 Oct 2004:

     Many oenophiles rely on the ratings and recommendations of wine guru Robert Parker when selecting the perfect bottle.

Derived terms

• Gurmukhi
• guruship
• Sadguru

Translations

spiritual teacher

Arabic: جورو (ar) (guuru) m. Catalan: guru (ca) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 古魯 (cmn), 古鲁 (cmn) (gǔlǔ), 導師 (cmn), 导师 (cmn) (dǎoshī) Croatian: guru (hr) m. Czech: guru (cs) m. Dutch: goeroe (nl) m. Finnish: guru (fi) French: gourou (fr) m.

German: Guru (de) m. Greek: γκουρού (el) m. (gkouroú) Hindi: गुरु (hi) (guru) m. Indonesian: guru (id) Japanese: グル (ja) (guru), 教祖 (kyōso) Macedonian: гуру (mk) (gúru) m. Polish: guru (pl) m. Russian: гуру (ru) (gúru) m. (indeclinable), духовный учитель (ru) (duxóvnyj učítel') m. Urdu: گرو (ur) (guru) m.

advisor or mentor

Catalan: guru (ca) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 導師 (cmn), 导师 (cmn) (dǎoshī) Croatian: guru (hr) m. Dutch: goeroe m.

Finnish: guru (fi) German: Guru (de) m. Macedonian: гуру (mk) (gúru) m. Russian: наставник (ru) (nastávnik) m.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: gourou m. Hindi: गुरू (gurū) m. Korean: 지도자 (jidoja) Kannada: ಗುರು (guru) Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ (gurū) Sanskrit: गुरु (guru) m. Spanish: gurú m. Telugu: గురువు (guruvu), విశారదుడు (viśāraduḍu), కోవిదుడు (kōviduḍu) Urdu: گرو (gurū) m.

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Czech

Noun

guru m.

1. guru (spiritual teacher)
2. guru (leader or expert in a field)

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Finnish

Noun

guru

1. A guru

Declension

Declension of guru (type valo) singular plural nominative guru gurut genitive gurun gurujen partitive gurua guruja accusative guru gurun gurut inessive gurussa guruissa elative gurusta guruista illative guruun guruihin adessive gurulla guruilla ablative gurulta guruilta allative gurulle guruille essive guruna guruina translative guruksi guruiksi instructive – guruin abessive gurutta guruitta comitative – guruineen

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French

Noun

guru m. (plural gurus)

1. Alternative spelling of gourou.

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Hungarian

Etymology

From English guru, from Hindi गुरू (gurū), from Sanskrit गुरु (guru, “heavy”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡuru/
• Hyphenation: guru

Noun

guru (plural guruk)

1. A guru

Declension

declension of guru singular plural nominative guru guruk accusative gurut gurukat dative gurunak guruknak instrumental guruval gurukkal causal-final guruért gurukért translative guruvá gurukká terminative guruig gurukig essive-formal guruként gurukként essive-modal - - inessive guruban gurukban superessive gurun gurukon adessive gurunál guruknál illative guruba gurukba sublative gurura gurukra allative guruhoz gurukhoz elative guruból gurukból delative gururól gurukról ablative gurutól guruktól

possessives of guru possessor singular possession plural possession 1st person sing. gurum guruim 2nd person sing. gurud guruid 3rd person sing. guruja gurui 1st person plural gurunk guruink 2nd person plural gurutok guruitok 3rd person plural gurujuk guruik

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Indonesian

Noun

guru

1. A teacher

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Italian

Noun

guru m. inv.

1. A guru (religious or spiritual leader; influential person)

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Mapudungun

A red fox (Vulpes vulpes).

Alternative forms

• gvrv

Noun

guru (using Raguileo Alphabet)

1. A fox

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Polish

Etymology

From Sanskrit गुरु (gurú)

Noun

guru m. (indeclinable)

1. guru

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Serbo-Croatian

Noun

gȕru m. (Cyrillic spelling гу̏ру)

1. guru

Declension

    declension of guru

	singular	plural
nominative	gȕru	gurui
genitive	gȕrua	gurua
dative	guruu	guruima
accusative	gurua	gurue
vocative	guruu	gurui
locative	guruu	guruima
instrumental	guruom	guruima