Definition of "mahatma" [ma•hat•ma]

• In India and Tibet, one of a class of persons venerated for great knowledge and love of humanity. (noun)
• Hinduism Used as a title of respect for a person renowned for spirituality and high-mindedness. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Certain subjects, like Gandhi, who is often referred to as mahatma, or great soul, are particularly guarded."
• "Behold the "mahatma" that supported the British in World War"
• "Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the mahatma — Sanskrit for “great soul” — was a Gujarati, born in Porbandar, on the Arabian Sea, in 1869."