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asoko

asoka

masc nom sg of asoka (adj); masc nom sg of asoka (noun)

1. sorrow-free; free from sadness
2. tree Jonesia Asoka; lit. without sorrow
3. name of Vipassī Buddha's attendant; lit. without sorrow

Built from

• a- — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Cognate with English un-, Greek a- (atheist). Reverses or denies the sense of what follows.
• soka — root · sorrow, grief
  Related to Sanskrit śoka. The concrete sense is inner burning or turmoil; in compounds and derivatives it carries the weight of mental suffering.

Analysis. a- (prefix, 'not') + soka (noun, 'sorrow, grief'). The word denotes freedom from sorrow either as an adjective describing a person or state, or as the name of the tree and the Buddha's attendant, both legendary bearers of that quality.

Etymology. The root soka is related to Sanskrit śoka 'sorrow, lamentation'; the prefix a- is the standard Pali negation (cognate with English un-, Greek a- in atheist). The tree's name reflects the folk etymology that its flowers bloom when sorrowful women touch them—hence 'sorrow-tree' repurposed as 'sorrow-free' in doctrinal use.

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

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