Science, ideas & the artsMyths & disputes

guru

Sanskrit guru first meant 'heavy', then 'weighty, venerable', then a spiritual teacher; it shares an Indo-European root with Latin gravis and English grave. In Southeast Asia it became the ordinary word for a schoolteacher (Malay guru, Thai khru, Tagalog guro), while 1960s English made it any expert.

Weakest linkCertain

The story you may have heard

That guru means 'dispeller of darkness' (gu 'darkness' + ru 'remover'): a late devotional wordplay from the Advayataraka Upanishad, not the etymology.

The road to English

From Sanskrit to Punjabi

From Sanskrit to Khmer, Thai

From Sanskrit to Old Javanese, Malay, Indonesian

From Malay to Tagalog

From English to American English

From English to French

From English to German

From English to Japanese

1200 BCESanskrit

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

guru

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

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