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āgamo
āgama
masc nom sg of āgama (noun); imperf 2nd sg of āgamā (verb); aor 2nd sg of āgami (verb)
- āgama (masc): scripture; religious text; canon; lit. come here
- āgama (masc): occurrence; outcome; result; lit. come here
- āgama (masc): (gram) insertion; inserted consonant; augment; lit. come here
- āgama (masc): coming; arrival; approach; lit. come here
- āgamā (imperf): came (to); arrived (at); lit. came here
- āgami (aor): returned; came back (to); lit. came here
- āgami (aor): approached; came; arrived; lit. came here
Built from
- ā — prefix · toward, hither
Directional prefix reversing the sense of motion: gam means 'go away', but ā-gam means 'come toward (the speaker)'. The concrete imagery of approach underlies all meanings: physical arrival becomes the arrival of teaching.
- gam — root · go; come
Indo-European root reflected in English come, Sanskrit gam. In Pali, ā-gam shifts the direction: 'go' becomes 'come'.
- a — ending · nominative singular
Masculine nominative singular ending marking the nominalized agent or result: what 'comes' = arrival, or what has 'come' = scripture received.
Analysis. ā- (toward the speaker) + √gam (to go): 'coming toward', hence 'arrival' and by extension 'what comes to us', i.e., transmitted teaching or canon.
Etymology. ā- (prefix: toward) + √gam (go), cognate with English come and Sanskrit āgamati. The spatial sense of approach—'coming toward the speaker'—becomes abstract: what arrives at us through tradition. Related to Latin venīre (come) through a different root.