Ahimsa

//əˈhɪmsɑː// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A doctrine of non-violence, concerned with the sacredness of all living things and an effort to avoid causing harm to them. Hinduism, Jainism, uncountable

    "Already, at this very early date, the ritualists were moving towards the ideal of ahimsa ("harmlessness") that would become the indispensable virtue of the Indian Axial Age."

  2. 2
    a Buddhist and Hindu and especially Jainist doctrine holding that all forms of life are sacred and urging the avoidance of violence wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
noninjurynoninjurypacifism

Example

More examples

"Already, at this very early date, the ritualists were moving towards the ideal of ahimsa ("harmlessness") that would become the indispensable virtue of the Indian Axial Age."

Etymology

From Sanskrit अहिंसा (ahiṃsā).

Related phrases

ahimsa silk

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.