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nibbānaṁ

nibbāna

nominative/accusative singular neuter of nibbāna; also appears as nibbānaṁ (accusative)

1. the extinction of craving, aversion, and delusion
2. the unconditioned, deathless state
3. the goal of the Buddhist path; liberation

Built from

• ni — prefix · out, away from
  Denotes outward motion or cessation; cognates: English 'nether', German 'nieder'. Here it carries the sense of extinguishing.
• vāna — root · fire; the burning
  Related to √vā (to blow, blow out). The three fires of greed, hatred, and delusion are the fuel of saṁsāra; their extinction is nibbāna.

Analysis. ni- (out, away from) + vāna (the fire burning); literally 'the fire blown out', referring to the extinguishing of the three fires of greed, hatred, and delusion that fuel the cycle of rebirth.

Etymology. From ni- (out of, away) + vāna (fire, from √vā to blow). The image is of a flame extinguished by being blown out—what was burning ceases. Sanskrit cognate: nirvāṇa. The concrete spatial sense of ni- (downward, outward) becomes the central Buddhist metaphor for freedom from suffering.

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

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