Mahāmeru
/ˌmɑː.hɑːˈmeː.ruː/noun
A Sanskrit name for Mount Meru, the sacred cosmic mountain at the center of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain cosmologies.
Did you know?In traditional cosmology, Mount Meru was not merely a mountain but the universe’s vertical center, with celestial realms arranged above its summit.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*meg-
“Great or large; the ancient root associated with the first element mahā.”
Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
mahā
“Great, mighty, or exalted.”
Classical Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Meru
“The mythic golden mountain regarded as the cosmic center.”
Epic and Purāṇic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Mahāmeru
“Great Meru; an exalted or cosmically immense form of the sacred mountain.”
Buddhist Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sumeru
“Mount Meru, the central world-mountain in Buddhist cosmological systems.”
Modern English
English
Mahāmeru
“A transliterated name for the cosmic Mount Meru in South Asian religious and historical writing.”