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āgantvā

absolutive (ind.)

1. having arrived; having come to; lit. having come here
2. having returned; having come back; lit. having come here

Built from

• ā — prefix · toward, hither
  Spatial prefix reversing motion verbs: literally 'up to and toward the speaker'. Cognate: Sanskrit ā.
• gam — root · go, come
  IE *gʰem- (to step, stride). Cognates: Latin venīre, Greek βαίνειν bainein, English come.
• tvā — ending · absolutive
  Indeclinable particle marking completed action before the main verb: 'having gone-toward', used to express prior action in sequence.

Analysis. ā (toward, uptake) + gam (go) + -tvā (absolutive suffix); literally 'having come toward', i.e. having arrived or returned.

Etymology. ā reverses the direction of √gam (go, come), turning it into approach-toward-speaker. Cognate: Latin venīre (come), Greek βαίνειν bainein (step, go) from the same IE root *gʰem-.

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

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