Sayadaw

A sayadaw (, ; , and alternatively spelled hsayadaw, sayado, sayāḍo or sayāḍaw) is a Burmese Buddhist title used to reference the senior monk or abbot of a monastery. The word is a combination of Sanskrit word "acharya" (teacher) and the Burmese honorific "taw," which is used to denote nouns of religious or royal significance. Some distinguished sayadaws would often be referred to as a sayadawgyi (, as a sign of reverence. The terms "sayadaw" and "sayadawgyi" originally corresponded to the senior monks who taught the former Burmese kings. These sayadaws may be influential teachers of Buddhism and also important meditation practitioners. They usually are abbots of monasteries or monastery networks with many resident monks and a lay following. In modern-day Myanmar, monastic abbots are required to have passed monastic examinations.

In Burmese Buddhism, several honorific terms exist for Buddhist monks, reflecting their achievements and how many vassas they have passed. The most frequently used terms, which are used as prefixes to the monks' Dhamma name, include: "Bhaddanta" ဘဒ္ဒန္တ "Ashin" အရှင် "Shin" ရှင် "U" ဦး၊ ဥူး "Upazin" ဥပဇင်း "Sayadaw" ဆရာတော် "Sayadawgyi" ဆရာတော်ကြီး