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ādīnavaṁ

ādīnava

accusative singular masculine noun

1. danger
2. harmful consequence
3. drawback
4. peril

Built from

• ā — prefix · toward, up to
  Reverses the usual sense of the root, making what appears into something ominous or threatening.
• dīnava — stem · danger, drawback
  Related to √div (to shine, appear); the danger is what becomes visible or manifest.

Analysis. ā + √div (to shine, appear) with pejorative sense; the concrete imagery is "what appears/comes to light as danger"—a reversal of the expected positive sense of ā-prefixed verbs.

Etymology. ā (toward the speaker, reversal of direction) + √div (to shine, appear). The prefix ā reverses the positive sense of appearance into something that looms as a threat. No clear cognates in European languages, but the formation parallels how ā-verbs in Pali often express completion or turning inward.

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

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