(Sanskrit) or SÄvaka (PÄli) (Tibetan nyan.thos) means "a hearer" or, more generally, "disciple."See, for instance, PTS (1921-25), p. 707, entry for "SÄvaka."http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.4:1:648.pali, which identifies the etymological root of "sÄvaka" to be Å›ru. In Nyanaponika, Hecker & Bodhi (2003), p. xvii, Bhikkhu Bodhi provides a seemingly different derivation, stating that "sÄvaka" comes from sÄveti, meaning "to declare," and refers either to one declaring the Buddha as their teacher or to one to whom the Dhamma has been declared. This term is used in both Buddhist and Jain texts.