kundalini

kun·da·li·ni
K5U1N1D2A1L1I1N1I1

noun

An energy said to lie coiled at the base of the spine and to be released by yoga.

Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

nounkundalini (countable and uncountable, plural kundalinis)

plural kundalinis

  1. countableuncountableyogaAn energy said to lie coiled at the base of the spine and to be released by yoga.

    The physiology of Tantra yoga focuses on the magical numinosity of the male semen, but the experience of the awakening of kundalini is not an exclusively male phenomenon.

    1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 19
    1 more example

    For us it is, of course, a symbol of the caduceus of Aesculapius, of the spinal column, of the kundalini-serpent of the Indians – you will be able to trace the ancestry of the idea through many continents and many religions.

    1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 131

Origin

  1. Sanskritकुण्डलिनी“coiled”
  2. Englishkundalini

From Sanskrit कुण्डलिनी (kuṇḍalinī, “coiled”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

kundalini. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kundalini

MLA

“kundalini.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kundalini. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kundalini,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kundalini.

Source: kundalini on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.