guru
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guru
A spiritual teacher, especially in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, who guides their students on their spiritual path.
Er reiste nach Indien, um bei einem berühmten Guru Meditation zu lernen.
He traveled to India to learn meditation from a famous guru.
The meaning is easy to recognize from context. If it is about spirituality, meditation, or religion, the spiritual teacher is meant. In contexts such as business, technology, or fashion, it refers to the influential expert.
Viele Menschen folgten dem spirituellen Guru nach Indien.
Many people followed the spiritual guru to India.
When 'Guru' (guru) is used for an expert, the word often has a slightly ironic or exaggerated undertone. It can suggest that someone is being presented as an infallible master, which may not be meant entirely seriously.
Jeder hört auf ihn, er ist ja unser kleiner Organisations-Guru.
Everyone listens to him; after all, he is our little organization guru.
In the figurative meaning, 'Guru' (guru) is very often used as the second part of a compound word to name the field of expertise. Typical examples are 'Marketing-Guru' (marketing guru), 'Fitness-Guru' (fitness guru), or 'Finanz-Guru' (finance guru).
Ein bekannter Fitness-Guru hat ein neues Trainingsprogramm entwickelt.
A well-known fitness guru has developed a new training program.
teacher
'der Lehrer' and 'der Guru' can both refer to people from whom others learn. In normal usage, 'der Lehrer' is a person who teaches professionally, especially at school. The word can also be used figuratively when you learn something important from a person or experience. 'der Guru' is originally a spiritual teacher. Figuratively, it often means a very well-known expert with great influence, sometimes in a slightly ironic way. The words can be confused because both pass on knowledge. In school and teaching contexts, 'Lehrer' is the right word. For spirituality or a particularly influential expert, 'Guru' fits better.
Omar nennt den Programmierer einen Guru, weil alle seine Tipps befolgen.
Omar calls the programmer a guru because everyone follows his tips.
Am Morgen erklärt der Lehrer der Klasse die Aufgabe für den Test.
In the morning, the teacher explains the task for the test to the class.