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āgamoti
āgama
masculine noun; nominative singular
- 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 the speaker
Spatial prefix marking approach or arrival. In āgama, the image is of teachings "coming toward" the hearer—hence canon and tradition.
- gam — root · go; move
Indo-European √*gam-; cognate with English come, Latin venīre, Old Norse ganga. The root is action-oriented; āgama makes it a thing—what comes, what arrives.
- a — ending · nominative masculine singular
Standard masculine -a ending in Pali; marks the word as noun in citation form and nominative case.
Analysis. ā + √gam, "coming toward (the speaker)"; in the doctrinal sense, texts that "come to" the tradition—the received teachings.
Etymology. √gam "go" + ā "toward the speaker, up to"; cognate with English come, Latin venīre (Spanish venir), Greek βαίνω (bainō) "go". The prefix ā reverses motion verbs, so āgacchati = "comes" (lit. "goes toward"). āgama as a noun captures the sense of "what comes to us"—arrival, tradition, received text.