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jarāmaraṇanti

jarāmaraṇa

nt, nominative singular (with enclitic -iti)

1. old age and death; ageing and dying

Built from

• jarā — root · old age
  From √jṝ (decay, grow old). The root carries the sense of gradual wearing away and dissolution of the body.
• maraṇa — stem · death
  From √mar (to die) + -ana suffix. Denotes the final dissolution of life, the object state (maraṇa-) formed from the verbal root.
• -iti — ending · thus, saying
  Enclitic particle marking quoted or emphasized speech; here it frames the compound as a naming (jarāmaraṇaṃ iti 'old age and death', thus called).

Analysis. jarā (old age) + maraṇa (death); the compound names the pair of conditions that mark the end of life and close the twelvefold dependent chain (paṭiccasamuppāda).

Etymology. jarā from √jṝ (to grow old, decay), cognate with Latin senex (old man) and Germanic *gēran (to yawn, gape — decay as opening)—the sense of wearing away. maraṇa from √mar (to die), cognate with English murder, Latin mors (death), and Greek mairō (to waste away).

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

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