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aṭṭhaṅgikena

aṭṭhaṅgika

masc instr sg of aṭṭhaṅgika (adj); nt instr sg of aṭṭhaṅgika (adj)

1. with eight parts; eight-limbed; eightfold

Built from

• aṭṭha — root · eight
  From Proto-Indo-European *oḱtō(u), cognate with Sanskrit aṣṭa, Greek oktṓ, Latin octō, English eight. The number that marks a major division in Buddhist path teaching.
• aṅga — root · part, limb, member
  Sanskrit aṅga; cognate with Greek agkálē 'arm, embrace' (both < PIE *h₂enǵ- 'to bend, angle'). Concretely a limb or body part; abstractly any member or constituent of a whole.
• -ika — ending · having the quality of
  Possessive adjective suffix. Here it transforms the noun compound aṭṭhaṅga into an adjective meaning 'possessing eight parts' or 'eightfold'.
• -ena — ending · instrumental case
  Marks the instrumental singular, indicating the means or manner by which something is done ('by means of, with, through the eightfold path').

Analysis. aṭṭha (eight) + aṅga (part, limb, member) + -ika (having the quality of); used in the phrase aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo 'the eightfold path', the Buddha's prescription for ending suffering.

Etymology. aṭṭha is a reflex of Proto-Indo-European *oḱtō(u), cognate with Sanskrit aṣṭa, Greek oktṓ, Latin octō, Germanic *ahtau (English eight). The suffix -ika derives a possessive adjective ('having'); aṅga 'limb, part, member' is related to Sanskrit aṅga and ultimately to Greek agkálē 'arm, embrace', revealing the spatial concreteness (a part is something that extends from or joins the whole). Together, aṭṭhaṅgika literally means 'eight-parted' or 'possessing eight members'.

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

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