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anavassavo

anavassava

masc nom sg of anavassava (noun)

1. no outflow; no result; no effect; lit. not flowing down

Built from

• an- — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Cognates: English un-, Greek a(n)- (atheist, anonymous).
• ava- — prefix · down, off
  Expresses downward or wasteful motion. Cognates: Latin au- (aufero 'carry off'). Here the imagery shifts to efflux or leakage.
• vass — root · flow
  Root meaning to flow or stream; related to Sanskrit vas 'to dwell, flow'. The concrete image of liquid flowing down becomes the abstract notion of mental effluence.
• -ava — stem · outflow, efflux
  Nominal stem derived from the root, forming the noun avassava 'that which flows down, result, effect'.

Analysis. an- (not) + avassava (outflow, result); literally 'not flowing down', the absence of karmically productive efflux — a doctrinal term for the cessation of mental defilements (āsava) that perpetuate saṃsāra.

Etymology. avassava from ava- (down, off) + √vas (to flow, dwell); cognate with Latin vastus and English waste in the sense of flowing away or dissipation. The negated form anavassava denotes freedom from the 'outflows' (āsava) that bind consciousness to rebirth.

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

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