Swami

Swami ([sʋaːmiː]; Sanskrit: स्वामी, romanized: svāmī; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to an ascetic who has chosen the path of renunciation (sanyāsa),[1] or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas.

The meaning of the Sanskrit root of the word swami is "[he who is] one with his self" (swa stands for "self"),[3] and can roughly be translated as "he/she who knows and is master of himself/herself".

[1] The term is often attributed to someone who has achieved mastery of a particular yogic system or demonstrated profound devotion (bhakti) to one or more Hindu gods.

[1] The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as:[4] Hindi svāmī 'master, lord, prince', used by Hindus as a term of respectful address, < Sanskrit svāmin in same senses, also the idol or temple of a god.As a direct form of address, or as a stand-in for a swami's name, it is often rendered Swamiji (also Swami-ji or Swami Ji).

The word also means "husband" in Malay, in which it is spelled suami,[6] and in Khmer, Assamese and Odia.