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ānando
ānanda
masc nom sg of ānanda (noun)
- happiness; joy
- name of an arahant monk; attendant of the Buddha; great disciple of the Buddha; foremost monk in great learning; foremost monk in excellent recollection; foremost monk in retention; foremost monk in total recall; foremost monk in assistance; lit. happiness
- name of four privately awakened Buddhas
Built from
- ā — prefix · toward, complete
Reverses motion verbs and marks fullness or inward direction. Here it turns the root's delight into a state reached or possessed.
- nand — root · to rejoice, delight
The concrete image is the upwelling of joy. Sanskrit nandati, nandana 'joy-bringing'; related to Old Norse nenna 'to dare, to venture' (courage from delight).
- a — ending · masculine nominal
Masculine nominative singular -a ending, used here for the proper name and as a common noun meaning 'happiness'.
Etymology. ā + √nand, 'to delight'; the prefix ā (toward the speaker, up to completeness) combines with √nand (to rejoice, delight) to form ānanda as 'complete joy, joy that reaches one'. Cognate with Latin nandus (now obsolete) and Sanskrit nandati 'rejoices'. The prefix intensifies the root's sense of inward gladness.