Juggernaut

Juggernaut

PRONUNCIATION:

(JUG-uhr-not) 

MEANING:

noun:
1. Anything requiring blind sacrifice.
2. A massive relentless force, person, institution, etc. that crushes everything in its path.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Hindi jagannath (one of the titles Krishna, a Hindu god, has), from Sanskrit jagannath, from jagat (world) + nath (lord). A procession of Jagannath takes place each year at Puri, India. Devotees pull a huge cart carrying the deity. Some have been accidentally crushed under the wheels (or are said to have thrown themselves under them). Earliest documented use: 1638.