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aparisuddhājīvo

aparisuddhājīva

masc nom sg of aparisuddhājīva (adj)

1. with impure livelihood; with improper mode of living

Built from

• a — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Cognates: English un-, Greek a(n)-.
• pari — prefix · around, completely
  Intensifies the following root, marking thoroughness. Cognates: Greek peri- (perimeter).
• suddh — root · purify
  The concrete sense is cleaning or refinement. Cognate with Sanskrit śuddha 'pure'.
• ā — ending · feminine nominative
  Feminine singular nominative ending, agreeing with the understood feminine noun (livelihood is treated as feminine). Marks the attributive adjective modifying jīva.
• jīva — root · live, livelihood
  Cognate with English 'alive', German 'lebend', Latin 'vivus'. Here used as a noun meaning mode of living or livelihood.

Analysis. a-parisuddhā-jīva: without (a-) purified livelihood (parisuddhā-, feminine nominative agreeing with jīva used attributively) + mode of living (jīva). A bahuvrīhi compound describing one whose livelihood is not fully purified.

Etymology. From a- (not) + pari- (around, completely) + suddhā (pure, from √sudh- 'to purify'). The prefix pari- intensifies suddhā to mean 'thoroughly purified'; a- negates it. Suddhā is cognate with Sanskrit śuddha and ultimately with English 'subtly' and Latin 'subtilis' (fine, thin — the metaphor of purification as refinement). Jīva ('mode of living, livelihood') derives from √jīv- 'to live', cognate with English 'alive', German 'lebend', Latin 'vivus'.

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

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