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aniccānupassī

masc nom sg of aniccānupassī (adj); masc nom pl of aniccānupassī (adj); fem nom sg of aniccānupassī (adj); nt nom pl of aniccānupassī (adj); …

1. observing impermanence; watching instability; contemplating inconstancy (of)

Built from

• an- — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Cognate to English 'un-' and Greek 'a(n)-'.
• icca — root · eternal, permanent
  From √nic-, meaning 'to fix or establish'; the negation creates 'non-permanence'.
• ā — ending · abstract noun marker
  Converts the adjective nicca into the abstract noun anicca-tā, here appearing as aniccā in the oblique stem used in compounds.
• anu- — prefix · along, following after
  Trailing behind, observing in sequence. Cognate to Greek 'ana-' in the sense 'along, up through'.
• pass- — root · see, look
  √pas- 'to see'; cognate to Latin 'pascere' and English 'pass'. Here the nominal form nupassī means 'one who sees/observes'.
• -ī — ending · agent noun, masculine singular nominative
  Marks the subject as one who actively observes or contemplates; agrees with masculine nominative singular.

Analysis. aniccā (impermanence, the quality of being anicca 'inconstant') + nupassī (one who observes, from anu- 'following along' + passati 'sees'). A bahuvrihi compound: 'one for whom impermanence follows along in observation', i.e. one whose practice is to observe the inconstant nature of all conditioned things.

Etymology. aniccā from a- 'not, without' + nicca (eternal, permanent; from √nic- 'fix, establish'), hence 'the non-permanence'; nupassī from anu- 'along, following' + √pas- 'see' (cognate Latin pascere, English 'pass'). The compound encodes the cardinal Buddhist contemplative practice: insight (vipassanā) into the three marks of existence, of which anicca (impermanence) is primary.

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

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