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arahatā

arahant

masc instr sg of arahant (noun); masc abl sg of arahant (noun)

1. arahatā (masc): by an awakened being
2. arahant (masc): awakened being; fourth stage of the path; lit. worthy one

Built from

• ara — root · enemy, foe
  The 'enemy' here is ignorance and the mental defilements; the word crystallizes the metaphor of spiritual combat.
• han — root · strike, kill
  From Indo-European *ghen-. Related to English slay and Latin caedere. In the arahant, this root refers to destroying the fetters (saṁyojana) and craving (taṇhā).
• ant — ending · agent noun suffix
  Forms the agent noun 'one who does'; here, 'one who strikes down' (the enemy within). Common in Pali for forming doers and states (e.g., bhagavant 'blessed one').

Etymology. From ara- (enemy, foe) + han- (to strike, kill), literally 'one who strikes down the enemy', i.e. the mental defilements (kilesa). The concrete image—a warrior slaying foes—becomes the spiritual sense of one who has destroyed greed, hatred, and delusion. Sanskrit cognate arahant; no clear Indo-European cognate, though the root √han appears in English slay (via Germanic), Latin caedere 'to kill' (via Italic).

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

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