Ruhani
/ruːˈhɑːni/noun
Relating to the spirit, spirituality, or the unseen spiritual realm.
Did you know?In Sufi and Islamic vocabulary, rūḥ can refer to the spirit or soul breathed into life by God, making rūḥānī a term for spiritual rather than merely material reality.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*rūḥ-
“Reconstructed root associated with breath, wind, or spirit”
Ancient Hebrew
Hebrew
rūaḥ
“Wind, breath, or divine spirit”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
rūḥ
“Spirit, soul, breath, or life-giving spirit”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
rūḥānī
“Spiritual; belonging to the spirit”
Medieval Persian
Persian
rūḥānī
“Spiritual or mystical”
Medieval Urdu
Urdu
rūḥānī
“Spiritual, saintly, or connected with the unseen”
Modern English
English
ruhani
“A loanword used for spiritual or mystical matters, especially in South Asian and Islamic contexts”