ahimsa

[ uh-him-sah, uh-hing- ]

nounHinduism.
  1. the principle of noninjury to living beings.

Origin of ahimsa

1
First recorded in 1830–35; from Sanskrit ahiṁsā “noninjury,” equivalent to a- privative suffix (cognate with Greek a- ) + hiṁsā injury, derivative of hánti “(he) slays,” Greek phónos “murder”; see origin at a-6

Words Nearby ahimsa

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How to use ahimsa in a sentence

  • ahimsa requires deliberate self-suffering, not a deliberate injuring of the supposed wrong-doer.

  • In its positive form, ahimsa means the largest love, the greatest charity.

  • ahimsa truly understood is in my humble opinion a panacea for all evils mundane and extra-mundane.

  • But Mr. Gandhi, with all his visionary idealism, was letting loose dangerous forces which recked naught of ahimsa.

    India, Old and New | Sir Valentine Chirol
  • He hated no one, for that would be a negation of the great principle of ahimsa, on which he expatiated with immense earnestness.

    India, Old and New | Sir Valentine Chirol

British Dictionary definitions for ahimsa

ahimsa

/ (ɑːˈhɪmsɑː) /


noun
  1. (in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jainist philosophy) the law of reverence for, and nonviolence to, every form of life

Origin of ahimsa

1
Sanskrit, from a- 1 + himsā injury

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012