mahatma
Americannoun
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a Brahman sage.
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(especially in India) a person who is held in the highest esteem for wisdom and saintliness.
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(in Theosophy) a great sage who has renounced further spiritual development in order to aid those who are less advanced.
noun
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Hinduism a Brahman sage
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theosophy an adept or sage
Other Word Forms
- mahatmaism noun
Etymology
Origin of mahatma
1850–55; < Sanskrit mahātmā, nominative singular of mahātman high-souled, magnanimous, equivalent to mahā- great + ātman atman
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Gandhi, by then largely known as the mahatma, or “great soul,” had helped lead India into its independent future less than a year before, with millions of Indian nationalists by his side.
From New York Times • Jan. 30, 2023
It centers around a towering bronze statue of Indian independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, also known as the mahatma or “great soul.”
From Seattle Times • Aug. 23, 2019
Certain subjects, like Gandhi, who is often referred to as mahatma, or great soul, are particularly guarded.
From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2011
The mahatma of Washington corn-rowers is Nat Mathis, better known to friends and customers as Nat the Bush Doctor.
From Time Magazine Archive
Ushas used a stronger expression here, but out of consideration for my old mahatma friends, I suppress it. p.
From Fashionable Philosophy and Other Sketches by Oliphant, Laurence
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
