ahimsa

American  

[uh-him-sah, uh-hing-] / əˈhɪm sɑ, əˈhɪŋ- /

noun

Hinduism.

1. the principle of noninjury to living beings.

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ahimsa British  

/ ɑːˈhɪmsɑː /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of ahimsa

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”; a- ⁶

Example Sentences

Lawson and Lal often discussed Gandhi’s conception of ahimsa, the Sanskrit word for nonviolence.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2024

What role does the concept of ahimsa play in politics, according to Gandhi?

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

The doctrine of ahimsa, or non- harming—a key idea in Indian philosophy and religion—constrains how one may disobey the government and even governs all interactions in the process of nonviolent noncooperation with the government.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

Etymologically, the word ahimsa, in Sanskrit, literally means “the absence of doing injury or harm.”

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

Undoubtedly the widespread Hindu acceptance of the principle of ahimsa, or non-killing, even in the case of animals, prepared the way for Gandhi more completely than would have been the case in western society.

From Introduction to Non-Violence by Paullin, Theodore