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nibbānadhātu

fem nom sg of nibbānadhātu (noun); fem voc sg of nibbānadhātu (noun)

1. condition of being liberated; state of Nibbāna; lit. extinguished state

Built from

• nis — prefix · out, away from
  The prefix nis- (nir-) means out or away, expressing removal. Cognates: no common European cognate, but the imagery of blowing out is central to the Pali metaphor of fire extinguished.
• vāna — root · blowing, wind, fire
  Related to √vā (blow); cognate with Latin ventus 'wind' and English 'wind'. The image is of breath or wind extinguishing flames.
• dhātu — root · element, constituent
  From √dhā (place, put, establish); cognate with Sanskrit dhā, English 'do', and Greek thesis. In Buddhist doctrine, dhātu denotes an irreducible element or nature.

Analysis. Compound: nibbāna (blowing out, extinction) + dhātu (element, constituent); literally 'the extinguished element', used in doctrinal contexts to denote the unconditioned element or reality that is Nirvana itself, distinct from the conditioned phenomenal world.

Etymology. nibbāna from nis- (out, away from) + vāna (blowing, wind, fire), literally 'the fire blown out'; cognate with Latin ventus 'wind' and English 'wind'. dhātu from √dhā (place, put; Sanskrit dhā); cognate with English 'do' and Greek thesis. Together they express the core Buddhist notion of extinction as an element or ground of being.

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

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