satyagrahan.

Etymology: < modern Sanskrit satyāgraha (also with vernacular pronunciation satyāgrah ; M. K. Gandhi 1908 in a Gujarati context) < satya truth (see satya n.) + āgraha persistence, pertinacity < āgrah- to take to oneself < ā- to + grah- to hold, seize (ultimately < the same Indo-European base as gripe v.¹), formed as an alteration (with substitution of the first element) of sadāgraha (suggested by his relative M. Kh. Gandhi: see note) < sad- , combining form (before a vowel) of sat true (see sati n.) + āgraha . Compare earlier soul force n. 2 and the discussion at that entry. Compare also slightly earlier satyagrahi n.For further information about the coinage of the Sanskrit word see the following response (here translated) to a public call for a translation of English passive resistance n. (published in Gujarati in Indian Opinion on 11 Jan. 1908); the identity of the correspondent was only revealed later:1962 tr. M. K. Gandhi Johannesburg Let. in M. K. Gandhi Coll. Works VIII. 23 I have received one which is not bad, though it does not render the original in its full connotation. I shall, however, use it for the present. The word is sadagraha. I think satyagraha is better than sadagraha. ‘Resistance’ means determined opposition to anything. The correspondent has rendered it as agraha. Agraha in a right cause is sat or satya agraha. The correspondent has therefore rendered ‘passive resistance’ as firmness in a good cause.