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anabhijjhā

fem nom sg of anabhijjhā (noun); fem nom pl of anabhijjhā (noun); fem acc pl of anabhijjhā (noun); fem instr sg of anabhijjhā (noun); …

1. absence of greed; not coveting; lit. not over thinking

Built from

• an- — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation; cognates with English un- and Greek a(n)-. Here negating the following root to mean absence of greed.
• abhijjhā — stem · covetousness, greed
  Compound of abhi- (toward, bearing down) + √jjhā (to burn, cling); the prefix carries the sense of intensely bearing down upon or grasping at what belongs to another.

Analysis. an- (not) + abhijjhā (covetousness); literally 'non-covetousness', the negation of the mental defilement of greed or longing for what belongs to another.

Etymology. The prefix an- (without, not) negates abhijjhā, which derives from abhi- (toward, bearing down on) + √jjhā (probably related to jhāpeti, 'burns', or to a root meaning 'to cling'), expressing the intense mental grasping or burning desire that covets others' belongings. The word is part of the canonical triad of unwholesome mental roots (lobha, dosa, moha) and their opposites: alobha (generosity), adosa (goodwill), and amoha (wisdom) are countered by abhijjhā, byāpāda, and moha respectively.

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

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