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assāma

assa

opt 1st pl of assa (verb); pr 1st pl of assati (verb); imp 1st pl of assati (verb)

1. assa (opt): may be; could be; should be; would be; could become
2. assati (pr): abandons
3. assāma (opt): we could be; we may be; we might be; we should be

Built from

• ass- — root · to be
  From Indo-European *es-. Cognates: Sanskrit asti, Latin est, Greek esti, English is. The root carries the simple copular sense of existence or becoming.
• -ā- — ending · optative marker
  Marks the optative mood, expressing possibility, permission, or obligation (might, may, should).
• -ma — ending · 1st plural
  First-person plural marker, indicating the subject is we.

Etymology. Root √as, "to be"; cognate with Sanskrit asti, Latin est, Greek esti, English is. The optative mood (Pali -ā- + -ma endings) expresses what might or should be.

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

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