mahatma

Etymology

It is borrowed from Sanskrit महात्मन् (mahātman, “great-souled, magnanimous”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} whose nominative is महात्मा (mahātmā).^[7][8] The Sanskrit compound is formed from महत् (mahát, “great”)^[4][9][10] and आत्मन् (ātmán, “soul, breath”), the source of atman.^[2][3][7] The first element is related to much and Latin magnus (“great”), from Proto-Indo-European *meg- (“great”);^{[2][3][10][9]} the second is cognate with Old English ǣþm (“breath”) and Old High German ātum (“breath”) (modern German Atem).^[7] Barnhart points to the parallel of magnanimus, the source of magnanimous.^[7] French has mahatma from the late 19th century.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A wise and holy person in India: 1855 in Barnhart,^[7] 1850–55 in Dictionary.com.^[8] The OED's first record is from 1882, among the Theosophists.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In English the word was first widely used by members of the Theosophical Society, who in their "Esoteric Buddhism" applied it to a class of sages with preternatural powers, supposed to live in India and Tibet;^[2][5][3] Weekley notes that the first records in the OED are connected with Madame Blavatsky.^[11] In South Asia it was used as a title for a person revered with love and respect,^[2][3] and it became attached above all to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi:^[2][7] Etymonline reports that it is said to have been applied to him in 1915, perhaps by Rabindranath Tagore,^[3] and Barnhart that the common people of India began to call him Mahatma after his first successful nonviolent campaigns against the colonial government.^[7] Merriam-Webster dates the sense "a person revered for high-mindedness, wisdom and selflessness" to 1923.^[4]

Timeline

• 1855 – a wise and holy person in India.^[7] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1850–55.^[8]
• 1882 – among Theosophists, a sage with preternatural powers living in India or Tibet.^[2] Etymonline dates this use to 1884.^[3]
• c. 1895 – in South Asia, a title of a revered person.^[2]
• 1915 – applied to Gandhi.^[3]
• 1923 – a person revered for wisdom and selflessness.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person revered for wisdom, high-mindedness and selflessness; in South Asia, a title of love and respect, best known as that of Gandhi.^[4][2][12]
2. In theosophy, one of a class of Indian and Tibetan sages believed to have special knowledge and powers; an adept.^[4][2][12]
3. In Hinduism, a Brahman sage.^[12]
4. A person of great standing in some field.^[4]

Word family

• mahatmaism

Related words

• atman
• maharaja
• magnanimous
• much

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins