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asaṅkheyyā

asaṅkheyya

nt nom pl of asaṅkheyya (noun); nt instr sg of asaṅkheyya (noun); nt abl sg of asaṅkheyya (noun); nt voc sg of asaṅkheyya (noun); …

1. (of time) incalculable period; innumerable period; lit. not to be counted
2. incalculable; immeasurable; innumerable; lit. not to be counted
3. large number; 10x140

Built from

• a — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Same as English un-, Greek a(n)- (atheist, anonymous).
• saṅkheyya — root · to be counted
  Derived from saṁ + √kh (to count, reckon); saṅkheyya is the gerundive form meaning 'countable, to be reckoned'. The √kh root carries the sense of making manifest or known through enumeration.

Analysis. a- (not) + saṅkheyya (to be counted), literally 'not to be counted'; a Buddhist term for an immeasurable span of time used in cosmological reckoning.

Etymology. Negation of saṅkheyya (countable, from √kh 'to count, reckon'), which itself derives from saṁ + √kh. The prefix a- is the same negation found in English un- and Greek a(n)- (atheist). The root √kh appears in Sanskrit khyā- (to appear, be known) and is related to counting as making things apparent.

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

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