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abhisantāpeyya

abhisantāpeti

opt 3rd sg of abhisantāpeti (verb)

1. tortures; torments; lit. causes to burn extremely

Built from

• abhi — prefix · toward, over
  Facing something, bearing down on it with intensity; cognate with Latin ob- (observe). Here it strengthens the sense of torment.
• san — prefix · together, completely
  Saṁ before t becomes san by sandhi. Brings things into one; here emphasizes complete, intense burning or heat.
• tāp — root · burn, heat, suffer
  Cognate with English 'thaw' and Latin 'tepidus' (warm). The root carries the concrete image of heat and pain.
• e — stem · causative marker
  Forms a causative stem, turning the action from 'to burn' into 'to cause burning (to torment)'.
• ti — ending · 3rd singular optative
  Optative mood and 3rd person singular; marks a wish or potential action ('he might torment').

Analysis. abhi- (toward, bearing down) + san- (together) + tāp- (burn, heat) + -eti (causative present); literally 'causes to burn intensely toward', hence 'torments severely'.

Etymology. √tāp 'to burn, heat, suffer' (cognate with English 'thaw', Latin 'tepidus' warm); the prefix abhi- 'toward, bearing down' intensifies the action into 'torment' or 'torture'. The sam- prefix (here san- by sandhi before t-) 'together, completely' emphasizes the gathering of heat or pain into one intense experience.

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

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