swamin.
/ˈswɑːmiː/ 1. A Hindu idol.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > [noun] > idol > worshipped by specific people
mumbo-jumbo1738
swami1773
zootype1883
1773 E. Ives Voy. India 70 Towards the upper end, there is a dark repository, where they keep their Swamme, that is their chief god.
1794 Indian Observer 167 The gold might for us as well have been worshipped in the shape of a Sawmy at Juggernaut.
1799 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) I. 56 Some brass Swammies which were in the toshekanah were given to the brahmins of different pagodas.
1837 Lett. fr. Madras (1843) viii. 64 They admire our dolls so much, that they are almost ready to make Swamies of them.
1884 Sunday at Home June 397/1 A fourth [hut], the most pretentious and the best built, was consecrated to the swamie, or god.
2. A title for a Hindu religious teacher.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > preaching > catechesis > [noun] > one who performs
fatherOE
catechizerc1449
mystagoguec1540
oracle1548
catechist1564
guru1613
director1671
swami1901
1901 Daily News 2 Dec. 5/1 She was informed that the word Swami meant teacher.
1905 Missionary Rec. United Free Church Scotl. Feb. 9/2 A distinguished Swami or religious teacher visited Poona lately.
3. Applied to jewellery ornamented with figures of Hindu deities.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > jewellery of specific shape or form > [adjective] > ornamented with specific design
Mizpah1880
swami1880
1880 G. C. M. Birdwood Industr. Arts India I. 152 In the characteristic swami work of the Madras Presidency the ornamentation consists of figures of the Puranic gods in high relief.
1882 B. M. Croker Proper Pride I. iv. 69 My gold swami earrings.
1886 H. Yule & A. C. Burnell Hobson-Jobson Swamy Jewelry, a kind of gold and silver jewelry, made chiefly at Trichinopoly, in European shapes covered with grotesque mythological figures.
Compounds
swamy-house n. an idol temple or shrine.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > sanctuary or holy place > temple > [noun] > heathen (general)
idol-temple1577
pagoda1582
pagody1588
swamy-house1778
adoratory1800
1778 R. Orme Hist. Mil. Trans. Brit. Nation II. 443 Until they came in a line with the flank fire of the field-pieces at the swamy house.
1837 Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 134 In the middle of the court, round which these galleries of pillars ran, was the Swamy-house, or place in which the idol is enshrined.
1857 H. Greathed Lett. Siege Delhi (1858) 112 We met Wilby at the advanced post, the ‘Sammy House’.
swamy-pagoda n. now historical a coin formerly used in Madras (now Chennai).
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > foreign coins > [noun] > coins of Indian subcontinent
fanam1555
St. Thomas' coin1559
pardao1582
seraphin1582
chequina1587
pagody1588
pagoda1598
tanga1598
mahmudi1612
rupee1612
mohur1614
tola1614
lakh1615
picec1617
sicca rupee1619
rupee1678
anna1680
cash1711
R1711
star pagoda1741
pie1756
sicca1757
dam1781
dub1781
hun1807
swamy-pagoda1813
chick1842
re1856
paisa1884
naya paisa1956
poisha1974
1813 W. Milburn Oriental Commerce II. 7 The Madras, or 3 Swamy pagoda, is 20⅔ carats fine.
1886 H. Yule & A. C. Burnell Hobson-Jobson 884/1 Swamy-pagoda, a coin formerly current at Madras; probably so-called from the figure of an idol on it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1918; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.1773