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khīṇāsavassetaṁ

khīṇāsava-ssetaṁ

accusative singular masculine of the compound khīṇāsava-ssetaṁ (one whose taints are exhausted), but this appears to be a contracted/compressed form; resolution uncertain from the surface form alone. The stem seems to be khīṇāsava (taints destroyed) + a dative or locative postposition or suffix.

1. one whose taints (āsavas) are exhausted, an arhat

Built from

• khīṇa — stem · exhausted, wasted
  Past participle of khīyati, formed from √khī. Concrete image: something worn down or used up.
• āsava — stem · taints, fluxes
  Literally 'that which flows out' (ā + √as 'to flow'). The three āsavas (sensual desire, becoming, ignorance) are metaphorically flows of mental corruption.
• -ssetaṁ — ending · accusative singular (contracted)
  The ending is unclear due to sandhi compression; may involve -ssa (genitive or dative marker) fused with a nominalized or demonstrative element. Requires manuscript verification.

Analysis. khīṇa (exhausted, past participle of khīyati 'wastes away') + āsava (taints, fluxes of craving and ignorance) + ssetaṁ (possibly a contraction or sandhi fusion involving a demonstrative or locative particle; the exact grammatical function is obscured by the surface form).

Etymology. khīṇa from √khī 'to waste, diminish' (related to Sanskrit kṣaya 'decay'; Indo-European *ksei- 'cut, split'); āsava from √as 'to flow' (Sanskrit āsrava; cognate with Greek rheo 'to flow'). The compound denotes the consummation of the Buddhist path: the destruction of the three āsavas (sensual desire, becoming, and ignorance).

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

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