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gaṇayaṁ

gaṇati

accusative singular masculine of gaṇa (noun), or gerundive accusative; alternatively, 2nd person singular imperative of gaṇati 'count'

1. counting
2. reckoning
3. a group, band

Built from

• gaṇ — root · count, enumerate
  From PIE *ǵenh₂- 'produce, beget a kind'. The abstract sense of grouping and counting develop from the concrete image of producing or bringing forth members of a class.
• a — stem · abstract noun suffix
  Standard Pali nominal suffix forming the o-stem noun gaṇa from the root.
• aṁ — ending · accusative singular
  Masculine accusative singular ending, marking the noun as a direct object or goal.

Analysis. gaṇayaṁ is the accusative singular of gaṇa (a group, troop, collection), which derives from the verbal root √gaṇ (to count, enumerate); the -aṁ is the standard masculine accusative singular ending.

Etymology. √gaṇ is cognate with Latin genus 'kind, class' and Greek genos, reflecting Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₂- 'to beget, produce (a kind or class)'. The concrete sense 'to count' arises from sorting items into kinds or classes; 'group' follows from the idea of counted members bound together.

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

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