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adhammacariyāvisamacariyāhetu

ind. (indeclinable; compound)

1. because of unethical and immoral conduct; due to misconduct and bad behaviour

Built from

• a — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Cognate with English un-, Greek a(n)-.
• dhamma — root · law, norm, duty
  From IE *dher- 'hold, support'. Sanskrit dharma. The concrete sense is that which is held or established as norm.
• cariyā — stem · conduct, behaviour
  From √car 'walk, move'; feminine action noun. The concrete sense: the path one walks.
• vi — prefix · apart, asunder
  Works like Latin dis-. Marks the state of being split or going different ways; here, conduct that deviates from the norm.
• sama — root · even, level, equal
  Cognate with English same, Sanskrit sama. The concrete sense: level, balanced.
• cariyā — stem · conduct, behaviour
  Repeated stem; here contrasted with the uneven conduct marked by vi-.
• hetu — root · cause, reason
  From √hu 'to be, become'. Governs the ablative sense of the entire compound: 'on account of these conducts'.

Analysis. a-dhamma-cariyā + vi-sama-cariyā + hetu. Two parallel compounds (both accusative, driving the ablative sense of hetu): (1) a-dhamma-cariyā 'non-dhamma conduct', unethical behaviour; (2) vi-sama-cariyā 'conduct gone apart from evenness', uneven/immoral behaviour. Compounded with hetu 'cause, reason' (ablative implied: 'on account of these conducts').

Etymology. adhammacariyā: a- (not) + dhamma (Pali form of Sanskrit dharma, 'law, norm, duty'; cognate with Greek tharma if from IE *dher- 'hold, support') + cariyā (from √car 'walk', Sanskrit carya 'conduct'). visamacariyā: vi- (apart, asunder) + sama (from √sam 'level, even'; cognate with English same, Sanskrit sama) + cariyā. hetu: from √hu 'to be, cause' (Sanskrit hetu, also related to Greek *hy- in hupar 'on account of').

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

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