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āyasmā

āya

masc abl sg of āya (noun); masc abl sg of āyas (noun); masc nom sg of āyasmant (noun); masc nom pl of āyasmant (noun); …

1. āya (masc): coming in; income; entrance
2. āya (masc): income; revenue; profit; lit. coming in
3. āya (masc): improvement
4. āyas (masc): life; health; power
5. āyasmant (masc): sir; venerable; reverend; lit. having age quality
6. āyasmant (adj): venerable; respectable; lit. having long life quality
7. āyasmā (masc): venerable; lit. having age quality
8. āya (masc): (of water) inlet; lit. income

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.

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