samadhi

English

Etymology

From Sanskrit समाधि (samādhi, “placing together”), from सम (sama, “together”) + आ (ā) prefix + धा (dhā, “to place”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /səˈmɑːdi/

Noun

samadhi (countable and uncountable, plural samadhis)

1. A state of transcendent union supposed to be assumed by a holy man or yogi at his death.
   • 2005, Salman Rushdie, Shalimar the Clown, Vintage, published 2006, page 227:

     She had seated herself cross-legged in the samadhi position and simply ceased to be.

2. The highest state of meditation, at which complete unity is reached.
   • 1902, William James, The Varities of Religious Experience, Folio Society, published 2008, page 340:

     The yogi, or disciple, who has by these means overcome the obscurations of his lower nature sufficiently, enters into the condition termed samâdhi, and ‘comes face to face with facts which no instinct or reason can ever know.’

3. The tomb of a holy person or saint in India.

Anagrams

• Adamish, Ahmadis, Dashami, Shimada, shimada