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adhammā

adhamma

masc nom pl of adhamma (noun); masc instr sg of adhamma (noun); masc abl sg of adhamma (noun); masc voc sg of adhamma (noun); …

1. misconduct; immoral behaviour; unjust means; cheating
2. false teaching; something opposed to the teaching
3. unlawful; illegal
4. name of a spirit
5. incorrect; immoral; unrighteous; lit. against the teaching

Built from

• a — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Cognate with English un-, Greek a(n)-, Latin in-.
• dhamma — root · law, duty, teaching
  From Sanskrit dharma, cognate with English form (< *dher- 'hold, bear'). In Buddhist usage, the Dhamma is the Teaching and the moral law.

Analysis. a-dhamma: 'not-dhamma' (a- 'not' + dhamma 'law, duty, teaching'). Denotes conduct or doctrine opposed to the Dhamma, the Buddha's Teaching.

Etymology. The prefix a- (without, not) negates dhamma (Pali cognate with Sanskrit dharma, from Proto-Indo-European *dher- 'to hold, support'). Dhamma originally meant 'what is held or established', hence 'law, custom, teaching'. The compound reflects Buddhist moral terminology: conduct and doctrine that contravenes the Dhamma lead to suffering.

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

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