A Hindu spiritual teacher or head of a religious sect. Also in gen. or trivial use: an influential teacher; a mentor; a pundit.

A chief priest of the Parsees.

(The title of) a Hindu sage or holy man. Also in more general use: (the title of) a popular leader of spiritual thought or opinion. Cf. guru, n.

In South Asia: a spiritual teacher or leader. Also as a title, either preceding or following a proper name. Cf. Sankaracharya, n.

In South Asia: a religious superior.

Hindu Mythology. The proper name of a monkey-chief; a semi-divine monkey-like creature, to whom extraordinary powers were attributed in legend.

The name and title of Sankara Acharya, a famous teacher of Vedānta philosophy (probably of the eighth century a.d.), used as the title of one of…