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dhammasamādānāni

dhammasamādāna

nt nom pl of dhammasamādāna (noun); nt acc pl of dhammasamādāna (noun); nt voc pl of dhammasamādāna (noun)

1. undertaking a practice; taking up something

Built from

• dhamma — root · Dharma, doctrine
  From √dhṛ (to bear, hold), related to Latin firmus and English firm. The Dharma is what bears or sustains the teaching.
• sam — prefix · together, completely
  Things brought into one. Cognates: English same, Latin similis; works like Latin con-.
• ā — prefix · toward, up to
  Reverses motion toward the speaker. Reverses or redirects the action of √dā.
• √dā — root · give, place
  The concrete root means to place or lay down. Cognates: Latin dare (give), English do.
• -na — ending · gerund, abstract noun
  Nominalizes the verbal action samādadāti into the abstract noun samādāna (the act of undertaking or taking up).

Analysis. Compound: dhamma (the Dharma, doctrine, phenomenon) + samādāna (taking up, undertaking). The compound denotes the act of receiving or committing oneself to a religious practice or teaching.

Etymology. samādāna is the gerund of samādadāti (sam- + ā- + √dā "to place"), literally "placing together toward the speaker" — the concrete image is gathering or drawing toward oneself. Cognates in sam-: Latin simul (together), English same. The prefix ā- reverses the direction of √dā, and sam- compounds it into a unified taking-up.

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

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