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acetanaṁ

acetana

accusative plural neuter of acetana (adjective)

1. not thought of
2. unthought
3. unexpected

Built from

• a — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Cognates: English un-, Greek a(n)- (atheist, anonymous).
• cetana — stem · thought, intention, consciousness
  From √cit 'to think, perceive'. In Buddhist psychology, cetana is volition or intentional action, one of the chief mental factors.
• -ṁ — ending · accusative plural neuter
  Marks the plural accusative case of neuter nouns, used when the word functions as a direct object or complement.

Analysis. a- (not, without) + cetana (thought, intention, consciousness) — negation of the root √cit (to think, perceive).

Etymology. The prefix a- negates cetana, from √cit 'to think, perceive', cognate with Sanskrit cit and related to English 'cite' (to cite = to call up in thought). The negation carries the sense of what falls outside consciousness or intention.

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

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