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manomayā

manomaya

masc nom pl of manomaya (adj); fem nom sg of manomaya (adj); fem nom pl of manomaya (adj); nt nom pl of manomaya (adj); …

1. mind-made; mentally produced
2. name of a privately awakened Buddha; lit. mind-made

Built from

• mano — root · mind, thought
  From √man 'to think'. Cognates: English 'mind', Latin 'mens' 'mind', Greek 'menos' 'spirit, passion'. The root captures the conceptual and volitional faculty.
• maya — ending · made of, consisting of
  Adjectival suffix from √mā 'make' or √bhū 'be', used in bahuvrīhi compounds. The suffix denotes material or abstract composition, much as English '-made' or '-like'.

Analysis. mano- (mind) + -maya (made of, consisting of); a bahuvrīhi compound, 'that which is made of mind' — used in the canon of celestial bodies and the mental body achieved in jhāna.

Etymology. mano- from √man (think, cognate with English 'mind', Latin mens, Greek menos); -maya from √mā or √bhū (make, be), cognate with English 'make'. The compound is a standard formation for material composition: cakkomaya 'wheel-made', or immaterial composition: vedanāmaya 'made of feeling'.

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

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