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anabhijjhālu

masc nom sg of anabhijjhālu (adj); fem nom sg of anabhijjhālu (adj); nt nom sg of anabhijjhālu (adj); masc voc sg of anabhijjhālu (adj); …

1. anabhijjhālu (adj): not covetous; not avaricious; lit. not over thinking
2. anabhijjhālū (adj): not covetous; not avaricious; not greedy; lit. not over thinking

Built from

• an- — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Cognates: English un-, Greek a(n)- (atheist, anonymous).
• abhi- — prefix · toward, over; grasping
  Concrete sense of bearing down on or facing something; here shaping 'covet' as desire pressing toward an object. Cognates: Latin ob- (observe, obtain).
• jjhā — root · think, covet
  Related to Sanskrit dhyai and Indo-European *dheu- 'shake, agitate, think'. The sense 'covet' arises from thinking that grasps at or dwells on something.
• -lu — ending · agent, disposed to
  Adjective-forming suffix denoting one who habitually does or has the quality; -lu marks a standing disposition or trait (like -ful or -prone in English).

Analysis. an- (not) + abhijjhālu (covetous); abhijjhālu itself = abhi- (toward, over) + √jjhā (to think, covet), with -lu suffix forming the agent adjective.

Etymology. The root √jjhā (to think, covet) is related to Sanskrit dhyai and Indo-European *dheu- 'to shake, agitate, think'; the prefix abhi- carries its concrete sense of bearing down on or grasping toward something, shaping the abstract meaning 'covet' or 'desire greedily'. The negation an- (cognate with English un-, Greek a(n)-) simply reverses the quality. The adjective is doctrinal: a desirable quality in the ethical training leading to nibbāna.

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

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