guru

Meanings

Noun

• A Hindu or Sikh spiritual teacher.
• An influential advisor or mentor.

Verb

• To act as a guru; to give wise advice

Origin

• From Hindi गुरु / Urdu گرو / Punjabi ਗੁਰੂ, from Sanskrit गुरु ("venerable, respectable"), originally "heavy" and in this sense cognate to English grieve. (A traditional etymology based on the Advayataraka Upanishad (line 16) describes the syllables gu as 'darkness' and ru as 'destroyer', thus meaning "one who destroys/dispels darkness"). grave, grief, and brute.