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appasamārambhaṁ

appasa­mārambha

accusative singular of appasa­mārambha (adj./noun)

1. absence of rashness or precipitate action
2. freedom from reckless undertaking
3. lack of excessive enterprise

Built from

• appa — root · little, few
  Negatively sized; cognate with Greek ὀλίγος olígos (few) if distantly related through PIE roots of measure and smallness.
• sam — prefix · together, forth
  Prefix denoting completeness and forward-driving force; here reinforces the sense of full, unrestrained undertaking.
• ā — prefix · toward, up to
  Prefix reversing or redirecting motion; here intensifies the sense of engaging or driving forward into action.
• rabh — root · seize, grasp, undertake
  Root expressing the grasping or seizing action of beginning an enterprise.
• a — ending · nominalized; masc. sg.
  Nominalizes the verb root into a noun meaning undertaking or enterprise.
• ṁ — ending · accusative
  Marks the word as accusative singular, used adverbially (with little rashness) in dependent clauses.

Analysis. appa (little, few) + samārambha (undertaking, enterprise; sam + ā + √rabh); literally 'little-undertaking' or 'non-excessive undertaking', used adverbially in the accusative as 'with little rashness'

Etymology. samārambha contains the prefix sam- (together, forward-driving) joined to ā- (toward) and the root √rabh (seize, grasp, undertake); appa (Skt. appa, from PIE *epo- small) is the opposite of mahā (great). The compound thus depicts restraint in action—the quality of not seizing rashly or undertaking things forward-headlong.

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

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