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agamāsi

aor 3rd sg of agamāsi (verb); aor 2nd sg of agamāsi (verb)

1. went (to); left (for)
2. came (to); arrived (at)
3. travelled; walked; lit. went
4. gave preference (to); gave weight (to); went by; based one's argument (on); lit. went to

Built from

• ā — prefix · toward, up to
  Reverses the motion of √gam: instead of 'go away', it means 'come toward' or 'arrive at'. Concrete image: motion directed toward the speaker or goal.
• gam — root · go, come
  Cognate with Latin venire, Greek baínein, English come. The root itself is neutral for direction; the prefix ā- determines that here it means approach or arrival.
• āsi — ending · 2nd/3rd sg aorist
  Aorist tense marker -ā- plus personal ending -si (2nd sg) or zero (3rd sg). Marks a punctual, completed past action.

Analysis. a- (prefix, toward) + gam- (root, go) + āsi (aorist ending). The prefix ā- here reverses the motion sense of √gam from its default 'go away' to 'come/go toward the speaker or a goal'.

Etymology. √gam 'go', cognate with Latin venire 'come' (from older *gwem-), Greek βαίνειν baínein 'walk, go', and English come (from *gwem-). The prefix ā- (toward, up to) is a reversal particle with no direct European cognate, but parallels Latin ad- in sense.

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

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