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maṁsapesūpamā

feminine nominative singular of maṁsapesūpama (adjective used as noun)

1. simile of rotten flesh
2. parable comparing decay to spiritual decline

Built from

• maṁsa — root · flesh, meat
  Cognate with Sanskrit māṃsa, Sanskrit and Pali share the word; no direct Indo-European cognate.
• pesi — stem · rotted, putrefied
  Past participle stem of pimsati (to rot); suggests decay and corruption.
• upamā — stem · simile, comparison, metaphor
  From upa- (near, alongside) + √mā (to measure, compare); the word that stands alongside another to measure or explain it. This ending marks the feminine nominative singular.

Analysis. maṁsa (flesh) + pesi (rotted, putrefied) + upamā (simile, metaphor). A compound noun forming one of the standard similes in the Pali canon used to illustrate impermanence and the repulsiveness of the body.

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

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