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manāpānaṁ

manāpāna

accusative singular of manāpāna (neuter noun); resolve to manāpānasati (meditation on in-and-out breathing)

1. mindfulness of breathing
2. in-and-out breathing (practice)

Built from

• mano — root · mind, thinking
  From √man 'to think'; appears in mano, mānasa. Refers here to awareness or attention directed at breathing.
• ā — prefix · toward, back and forth
  Reversal or back-and-forth motion; here marks the reciprocal flow of breath (in and out).
• pāna — root · breathing, breath
  From √pan 'to breathe, blow'; the living breath or respiratory process.

Analysis. manāpānaṁ is a contracted form of mano-āpāna, 'mind-breathing' or more precisely 'the breathing that comes and goes'; in practice it denotes the meditative observation of the breath's natural cycle. The word appears in the Ānāpānasati Sutta as a foundational mindfulness practice (anapanasati-bhavana), where one observes the breath as a gateway to concentration and insight.

Etymology. Pali mano (mind, from √man 'think') + āpāna (breathing out or breath in motion, from ā-pāna, lit. 'toward-breathing' or breathing that moves). The prefix ā- indicates motion toward the speaker or turning around; pāna derives from √pan 'breathe, blow'. The breathing out (and in) becomes the object of mindful attention, turning a physical process into a meditation anchor.

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

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