Mahatma
/məˈhɑːtmə/noun
An honorific meaning a person regarded as having great spiritual or moral stature.
Did you know?The word appears in the Bhagavad Gita, where mahātmā describes spiritually awakened people, and it later became globally associated with Mohandas Gandhi.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*megʰ-
“Great or large; the reconstructed root behind the Sanskrit element mahā-.”
Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
mahā-
“Great, mighty, or eminent.”
Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit
ātman-
“Self, inner self, soul, or breath; the precise deeper origin of ātman remains debated.”
Ancient Sanskrit
Sanskrit
mahātmā
“Great-souled; a person of profound spiritual or moral stature.”
19th Century
English
mahatma
“An adopted honorific used especially in English-language writing about Indian spiritual teachers and Theosophy.”
20th Century
Modern English
Mahatma
“A title most famously associated with Mohandas Gandhi, commonly called Mahatma Gandhi.”