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anvayā

anvaya

masc nom pl of anvaya (noun); masc instr sg of anvaya (noun); masc abl sg of anvaya (noun); masc voc sg of anvaya (noun); …

1. anvaya (masc): emulation; following along; lit. going along
2. anvaya (adj): following; conforming; subject; subservient (to); lit. going along
3. anvaya (masc): logical understanding; way of reaching a conclusion; inference (about); lit. going along
4. anvaya (masc): course, conformity, tradition
5. anvaya (masc): necessity
6. anvaya (masc): (logic) positive
7. anvayanta (prp): following; going after; pursuing; lit. going along

Built from

• anu — prefix · along, after
  Trailing behind, following the track. Appears in anussati 'remembering-along' and Sanskrit anu-.
• aya — stem · going
  From √i 'go', causative stem aya (like English itinerary from Latin īre). Carries the concrete image of movement.

Analysis. anu + aya, from √i 'go': 'going along', lit. trailing behind in the track of something, hence conformity, following, and by extension logical inference (following step by step to a conclusion).

Etymology. anu- (along after, trailing behind) + √i (go), literally 'going along with'; the root √i appears in Latin īre 'go' and English itinerary. The sense shifts from physical following to conformity and then to logical pursuit of a conclusion — the mind following the track of evidence.

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

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