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adinnādānapaccayā

indeclinable (ablative/instrumental absolute)

1. dependent on stealing; due to stealing

Built from

• a — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. The same prefix as in avijjā 'ignorance'.
• dinna — stem · given
  Past participle of dadāti 'give'. Creates the doctrinal term 'non-given', i.e. what belongs to another.
• dāna — stem · giving, taking
  Nominalization from √dā 'give'; here applied to the taking/theft itself.
• paccaya — stem · condition, cause
  From paṭi- 'back, in return' + √i 'go'; literally 'that which comes back in return', hence causal link in dependent origination.
• ā — ending · ablative/instrumental
  Feminine ablative/instrumental singular, expressing the cause or condition on which something depends in the causal framework of the dhamma.

Analysis. adinna-dāna-paccayā: 'non-given giving' (i.e. taking what is not given, theft) used as the instrumental cause; the ablative absolute construction expresses dependent origination or causal dependency in doctrinal contexts.

Etymology. The compound rests on adinna (a- 'not' + dinna 'given', past participle of dadāti 'give'), making 'taking of the not-given'—a cardinal formulation of theft in the precepts. Paccaya 'condition, cause' derives from paṭi- 'back, in return' + aya (√i 'go'), literally 'that which goes back in return', hence a causal link; cognate with Sanskrit prataya. The ablative/instrumental form paccayā anchors the phrase in dependent origination language.

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

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