dhammānupassī

masc nom sg of dhammānupassī (adj); masc nom pl of dhammānupassī (adj); fem nom sg of dhammānupassī (adj); nt nom pl of dhammānupassī (adj); …

observing phenomena; who watches mental phenomena; (or) observing the nature of things

Built from

dhamma — root · phenomenon, mental object, law
From √dhā 'to place, hold', originally 'that which is placed or held' — hence the fixed nature of things. The same root in English do, Sanskrit dhāman.
anu — prefix · along, following
Trailing behind, following the track of. Cognate with Greek ana- in the sense 'along, up through'. The concrete image is of movement that tracks or accompanies.
pass — root · see, perceive
Root of passati 'sees', anupassati 'observes'. Related to English pass (in the sense 'to look over, review') and Latin passus 'pace, step'.
ī — ending · agent feminine/masc.
Nominalizing suffix forming an agent noun (one who does the action). Here attached to the feminine stem anupassā, creating a masculine nominative singular adjective of agency.

Analysis. dhamma (phenomenon, mental object, law of nature) + anupassī (one who watches, one who observes) — 'one who watches phenomena/mental objects'. A stock epithet in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta and related texts for the meditator practicing mindful observation of the five aggregates, six sense-bases, and factors of awakening.

Etymology. Compound of dhamma (from √dhā 'to place, hold', cognate with English do, Sanskrit dhāman) and anupassī (from anu- 'along, following' + √pass- 'to see', cognate with English pass and Latin passus). The prefix anu- carries the sense of 'trailing after, following the track of', so anupassī is 'one who sees by following along' — i.e. sustained, careful observation. Together, dhammānupassī denotes the mindful observer who tracks the arising and passing of mental phenomena in meditation.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version