avighātattā

avighātatta

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

fact of being unharmed; unimpaired state

Built from

a — prefix · not, without
Plain negation without the force of the second prefix; makes the whole formation negative.
vi — prefix · apart, asunder
Adds the sense of non-destruction or non-breaking; works like Latin dis- in 'intact'. Cognate with Greek dvis 'two' and English two.
ghāta — root · striking, harm, injury
From √han 'to strike, kill, slay'; Sanskrit ghāta. Related to English 'gun' and Latin 'fendere' through Indo-European *gwhen-.
tt — ending · abstract-noun suffix
Derived from Sanskrit -tva, forming abstract nouns from adjectives and participles; here nominalized 'the state of being'.
a — ending · neuter nominative
Marks the form as neuter singular nominative, or can signal nominative plural in neuter nouns.

Analysis. a- (prefix, not) + vi- (prefix, apart) + ghāta (harm, injury) + -tt (suffix forming abstracts from adjectives) + -a (neuter nominative); the compound avighāta- meaning 'unobstructed, unharmed' becomes a state-noun through -atta

Etymology. The root is √han (to strike, kill), visible in ghāta (injury, harm). The double prefix a-vi- negates: a- is plain negation (English un-), and vi- means 'apart' or 'asunder' (Latin dis-), so avighāta literally reads 'not-broken-apart', i.e. intact. The -atta suffix (from -tva in Sanskrit) nominalize abstract qualities, turning the adjective into the noun 'state of' or 'fact of being'. In Buddhist doctrine this denotes the unobstructed, unimpeded nature of enlightened consciousness.

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

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