guru

[goo r-oo, goo-roo] /ˈgʊər u, gʊˈru/
noun
1.
Hinduism. a preceptor giving personal religious instruction.
2.
an intellectual or spiritual guide or leader.
3.
any person who counsels or advises; mentor:
The elder senator was her political guru.
4.
a leader in a particular field:
the city's cultural gurus.
Origin
1820-30; < Hindi gurū < Sanskrit guru venerable, weighty
Related forms
guruship, noun

Nanak

[nah-nuh k] /ˈnɑ nək/
noun
1.
("Guru") 1469–1539, Indian religious leader: founder of Sikhism.
Examples from the web for guru
  • She often received standing ovations from mothers and fathers who would line up to meet the guru with the bright red hair.
  • Not many management gurus have their name adopted for a principle, especially when they are not really a guru at all.
  • What the guru says is right if you believe otherwise you are an idiot, is the philosophy that governs this pseudo-science.
  • They now they call me the guru of stunt entertainment chainsaw art.
  • Many mentally ill people cannot work so they do not have money to pay for a guru.
  • Every generation gets the self-help guru that it deserves.
  • The little personal finance guru who lives in my head reluctantly vetoed the expenditure.
  • Husband quite sensibly sided with the personal finance guru.
  • Abrams, the writer and director and presiding pop-culture guru-geek, is surely aware of the incongruity.
  • It had made her the guru of the movement to tame the college-admissions frenzy.
British Dictionary definitions for guru

guru

/ˈɡʊruː; ˈɡuːruː/
noun
1.
a Hindu or Sikh religious teacher or leader, giving personal spiritual guidance to his disciples
2.
(often derogatory) a leader or chief theoretician of a movement, esp a spiritual or religious cult
3.
(often facetious) a leading authority in a particular field: a cricketing guru
Derived Forms
guruship, noun
Word Origin
C17: from Hindi gurū, from Sanskrit guruh weighty

Nanak

/ˈnaːˌnʌk/
noun
1.
See Guru Nanak
Word Origin and History for guru
n.

1800, gooroo, from Hindi guru "teacher, priest," from Sanskrit guru-s "one to be honored, teacher," literally "heavy, weighty," from PIE root *gru- (see grave (adj.)). Generalized sense of "mentor" is from 1940; sense of "expert in something" first recorded c.1966 in Canadian English in reference to Marshall McLuhan.

guru in Culture
guru [(goor-ooh, goo-rooh)]

In Hinduism, a teacher or spiritual leader.

Note: By extension, a “guru” is a teacher who attracts disciples or followers.
Slang definitions & phrases for guru

guru

noun
  1. A leader, expert, or authority in some field, esp a charismatic or spiritual figure who attracts a devoted following: turning for guidance to such gurus as Paul Goodman and Herbert Marcuse/ That genial guru of the right, Barry Goldwater (1960s+)
  2. A psychiatrist; shrink (1960s+)
  3. A person who aids and supports someone having a psychedelic drug experience (1960s+ Narcotics & counterculture)
  4. A computer expert: when you were with gurus (read: seasoned computer veterans) (1990s+ Computer)

[fr Sanskrit, ''venerable'']


guru in Technology

job
An expert, especially in "Unix guru". Implies not only wizard skill but also a history of being a knowledge resource for others. Less often, used (with a qualifier) for other experts on other systems, as in "VMS guru".
See source of all good bits.
[Jargon File]
(1996-06-01)