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anāsavo

anāsava

masc nom sg of anāsava (adj); masc nom sg of anāsava (noun)

1. free from the effluents; taint-less; undefiled; epithet of Nibbāna
2. name of a privately awakened Buddha; lit. free from effluents

Built from

• an- — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation; cognate with English un- and Greek a(n)-. Negates the noun that follows.
• ā- — prefix · toward, up to
  Marks the inward direction of the flow; reverses simple motion verbs. Cognate with Sanskrit ā.
• sṛ — root · flow
  The root √sṛ means 'flow' or 'run'; cognate with Latin serum and Greek rhein (to flow, in English 'rheum').
• -a — ending · noun
  Masculine singular nominative ending in Pali. Marks the abstract noun derived from the verbal root.

Analysis. an- (prefix, 'not') + āsava (noun, 'effluent, inflow, corruption'). The compound negates the āsavas—the four mental taints (kāma-, bhava-, diṭṭhi-, avijjāsava) that flow in and defile the mind.

Etymology. āsava itself derives from ā- (toward) + √sṛ (flow), so 'flowing toward/inward'; cognate with Sanskrit āsrava. The prefix an- is the simple negation (English un-, Greek a-). In doctrinal usage, anāsavo describes both the liberated saint (arahant) and Nibbāna itself, the state of all inflows ceased.

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

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