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anāvattidhammo

anāvattidhamma

masc nom sg of anāvattidhamma (adj)

1. not destined to return; lit. non-returning nature

Built from

• an- — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation from a/an-. Creates the opposite of the following term.
• ā — prefix · back, toward
  Reverses the motion of the verb; here pointing toward or back to a starting place.
• vat — root · turn, roll
  The concrete imagery of turning or rolling. Related to vattati 'turns, revolves', vatta 'wheel'.
• ti — ending · noun form marker
  Nominalizes the root into āvatti 'a turning, return'. The suffix -ti creates verbal nouns and abstracts.
• dhamma — stem · nature, quality, thing
  Derived from √dhā 'place, put'; literally 'what is placed' or 'established thing'. A central term in Buddhist philosophy meaning doctrine, phenomenon, or inherent nature.

Analysis. an- (not) + āvatti (return, turning back) + dhamma (nature, quality): 'nature of non-return'. In Buddhist doctrine, describes one who has attained the third stage of enlightenment (anāgāmī, 'non-returner') and will not return to saṁsāra.

Etymology. Compound of negation prefix an- + āvatti (from ā- 'back, toward' + √vat 'turn', as in vattati 'turns, rolls') + dhamma (from √dhā 'place', cognate with English 'do'). The concrete imagery: āvatti is literally 'turning back', so an-āvatti is the opposite—no turning back. The third path-fruit in early Buddhism marks the point beyond which one cannot regress into the sense-sphere realms.

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

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