the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. The life principle, soul, or individual essence.
n. The universal ego from whom all individual atmans arise. This sense is a European excrescence on the East Indian thought.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
n. The soul as it is conceived by the Brahman philosophers: the existence of it is denied by the Buddhists. The soul of the universe is equally called atman.
Word Usage
"The non-Buddhist Indian schools talk about atman, which is roughly translated as "self" or "soul"; and in other non-Indian religious traditions we hear discussion about the "soul" of the being and so on."