Atman

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈɑːtman/

Alternative spellings

• Atman
• Ä€tman

Origin

From Sanskrit आत्मन् (ātmán, "soul; self; essence"), from Proto-Indo-European (compare Old English ǣþm ("breath")).

Full definition of atman

Noun

1. (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Vedanta) The true self of an individual beyond identification with phenomena, the essence of an individual.
• 2006, Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation, Atlantic Books 2007, p. 84:The priests who were immersed in the ritual science of the Brahmanas began to speculate on the nature of the self, and gradually the word "atman" came to refer to the essential and eternal core of the human person, which made him or her unique.

Related terms

• anātman
• anattā
• Sutratman

Anagrams

• manat
• manta