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ācāmabhakkho

ācāmabhakkha

masc nom sg of ācāmabhakkha (adj)

1. feeding on rice water; eating pot scum

Built from

• ā — prefix · toward
  Reverses the motion of cam (eat), creating ācāma as eating-residue, food's remainder.
• cam — root · eat
  Cognate with Sanskrit cami, Greek keme 'to bite'. Forms ācāma, the water where food is washed.
• bhakkha — stem · eating, food
  Derived from √bhañj 'break (food)', with agent suffix -a. The full compound depicts one who eats broken refuse.

Analysis. ācāma (rice water, the water in which rice has been rinsed) + bhakkha (eating, food); a greedy or lowborn person who eats refuse.

Etymology. ācāma from ā (toward) + √cam (eat), the liquid of eating; bhakkha from √bhañj (to break, hence food broken up). The compound satirizes one who subsists on scraps.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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