‹ Back to the text

āsane

āsana

nt acc pl of āsana (noun); nt loc sg of āsana (noun)

1. seat; chair; lit. sitting
2. sitting; sitting posture
3. altar

Built from

• ā — prefix · toward, up to
  Reverses the motion of the root; sitting as an arrival at a place of rest.
• as — root · sit, stay
  Cognate with Sanskrit and Greek roots for sitting and being; the basis of Latin sedēre and English settle.
• ana — ending · neuter noun
  Nominalizing suffix forming neuter noun stem; -e marks accusative plural or locative singular.

Etymology. ā + √as (sit). The prefix ā- (toward the speaker, up to) reverses the root √as (sit, remain in place) to suggest sitting as an arrival or establishment. Compare Sanskrit āsana, Latin sedēs (seat, from sedēre "to sit"), English settle. The root √as is cognate with Vedic asti (is), Greek ἔσσι (thou art, Homeric), and the zero-grade in English essence.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version