From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Gooroo \Goo*roo"\, Guru \Gu*ru"\ (g[=oo]*r[=oo]"), noun [Hind. gur[=u] a spiritual parent or teacher, Skr. guru heavy, noble, venerable, teacher. Cf. {Grief}.]
1. A spiritual teacher, guide, or confessor among the Hindus; a guru. --Malcom.
2. (g[=oo]"r[=oo]) one who has expert knowledge of a technical area and serves as an advisor to others; an expert and teacher. Usually written guru. [PJC]
3. (g[=oo]"r[=oo]) an intellectual or spiritual guide or advisor; a mentor. Usually written guru. [PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Guru \Gu"ru\ (g[=oo]"r[=oo]), noun Same as {gooroo}. [PJC]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a Hindu or Buddhist religious leader and spiritual teacher
2: each of the first ten leaders of the Sikh religion
3: a recognized leader in some field or of some movement; "a guru of genomics"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
89 Moby Thesaurus words for "guru": Brahman, Ramwat, abecedarian, angel, authority, bairagi, bashara, bhikhari, bhikshu, boss, bwana, certified teacher, chef, chief, church dignitary, docent, doctor, dominie, don, ecclesiarch, educationist, educator, elder, elder statesman, employer, fellow, goodman, great soul, guide, holy man, husband, illuminate, instructor, intellect, intellectual, liege, liege lord, lord, lord paramount, lover of wisdom, maestro, mahatma, man of intellect, man of wisdom, mandarin, master, mastermind, melamed, mentor, mullah, oracle, overlord, padrone, pandit, paramount, paterfamilias, patriarch, patron, pedagogist, pedagogue, philosopher, preceptor, professor, pujari, pundit, purohit, rabbi, rishi, sage, sahib, saint, sannyasi, sapient, savant, scholar, schoolkeeper, schoolmaster, schoolteacher, seer, seigneur, seignior, starets, teacher, thinker, vairagi, wise man, wise old man, yogi, yogin
From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:
guru n. [Unix] An expert. Implies not only {wizard} skill but also a history of being a knowledge resource for others. Less often, used (with a qualifier) for other experts on other systems, as in 'VMS guru'. See {source of all good bits}.
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
guru An expert, especially in "{Unix} guru". Implies not only {wizard} skill but also a history of being a knowledge resource for others. Less often, used (with a qualifier) for other experts on other systems, as in "VMS guru". See {source of all good bits}. [{Jargon File}] (1996-06-01)
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