‹ Back to the text

āyasmā

āyasmant

Vocative masculine singular of āyasmant (an honorific title for a senior Buddhist monk)

1. Venerable (sir)
2. Reverend
3. Your Reverence

Built from

• ā- — prefix · toward, up to; possessive
  The reversal prefix conveying completeness or possession of a quality. Here it marks someone who has achieved standing.
• yasmant — stem · possessing strength; worthy
  Root sense of strength or vigor, used adjectivally to form an honorific epithet for accomplished monks.
• -a — ending · vocative marker
  Masculine singular vocative ending, used when directly addressing a senior monk.

Analysis. Honorific epithet applied to monks; from ā- (toward, up to) + yasman- (strength, vigor), literally 'one possessing excellence' or 'one of standing.'

Etymology. From ā- (toward, up to, reversing motion to denote completeness) + a root related to Sanskrit yaśas 'glory, fame.' The prefix ā gives the sense 'having reached, possessed of'; the element yasman- suggests vigor and excellence. No close European cognate, but comparable to titles built on 'strength' or 'worthiness' in classical languages.

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

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