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apāyaṁ

apāya

accusative singular masculine of apāya

1. hell, lost rebirth realm
2. state of loss or ruin
3. wasting away

Built from

• apa- — prefix · away, off
  Concrete spatial sense: motion away from a place or state. Here, falling away from ethical practice or favorable rebirth (Greek apo-, Latin ab-, English off).
• āy — root · go, come
  √yā or √ā, meaning motion; in apāya the concrete sense of 'going away' becomes 'departure into a lower state'.
• -a — ending · masculine nominative stem
  Masculine noun stem vowel forming the base for case declension (here, accusative apāyaṁ).

Analysis. apa- (away, off) + √yā (go); literally "going away" — a realm of departure from good rebirth or ethical standing.

Etymology. The prefix apa- (away, off; cognate with Greek apo-, Latin ab-, English off) combines with √yā (to go, Sanskrit √yā), which is cognate with Latin īre. The concrete sense "going away" becomes the abstract sense of falling away from virtue or favorable rebirth.

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

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